IBRA severance pay totals Rp 237b

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has decided to provide less severance pay for the 2,500 employees of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

Agency chairman Syafruddin Temenggung told a press conference on Friday that the severance pay totaled Rp 237 billion (US$28.21 million), around half the Rp 500 billion figure previously reported by the press. Reports also claimed that IBRA officials were highly paid, with top managers receiving at least Rp 100 million per month, compared to the more than Rp 20 million received by Cabinet ministers.

He said the amount was in line with President Megawati Soekarnoputri's suggestion that the severance pay be set at the lower end of the range as stipulated under the Labor Law.

IBRA officials have been strongly criticized following reports that agency staff would receive handsome severance payouts once the agency was closed down by the government.

Syafruddin said that each IBRA official would receive severance pay equal to between one month's salary and six month's salary depending on length of employment.