IBRA's account freezed

JAKARTA (JP): In an unprecedented move, the South Jakarta District Court has temporarily suspended the bank account of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in Bank Central Asia until a dispute with finance company PT Hanil Bakrie Finance is legally settled.

The court also suspended a US$6.54 million account of finance firm PT Ongko Akita Finance in the now defunct Bank Umum Nasional (BUN), which is guaranteed by IBRA, an agency under the Ministry of Finance.

"There are enough reasons according to the law, to grant the appeal of the plaintiff for the suspension," the court said in its ruling issued on Monday.

Hanil filed suit on Sept. 22 against IBRA for the latter's alleged failure to pay $4.5 million in a guaranteed claim.

Under the government blanket guarantee program, all obligations of closed-down banks, including interbank loans, are guaranteed by IBRA.

Hanil extended a $4.5 million loan to Ongko Akita Finance with BUN as the loan guarantor in October 1997. BUN is a sister company of Ongko Akita.

BUN was among the many banks closed down last year by the government in a bid to restructure the country's ailing banking sector.

Hanil has argued that under the government blanket guarantee program, IBRA was obliged to pay the matured debt of closed-down commercial banks. (rei)