IMF again warns RI on Bank Bali scandal probe

IMF again warns RI on Bank Bali scandal probe

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has again warned Indonesia that it wants swift publication of PricewaterhouseCoopers' review of the Bank Bali scandal.

Graham Newman, an IMF spokesman, said Friday the Fund has talked to Indonesian authorities once more about the need for the independent review to be handed to a special committee that is part of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, or IBRA.

"The IMF has again expressed its concerns to the Indonesian authorities regarding the need for full and prompt disclosure of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report to the chairman of IBRA's Independent Review Committee Mar'ie Muhammad," Newman said. "Such disclosure...is an essential step for resolving the case in an orderly way."

Standard Chartered Bank PLC discovered during a due diligence investigation of Bank Bali that around US$70 million had been transferred from the Indonesian bank to a private company controlled by a senior ruling Golkar Party official.

This scandal - along with the government's reluctance to tackle anti-independence violence in East Timor - has led the IMF to suspend consideration of the next loan installment of $460 million due to be paid to Indonesia in November.

PricewaterhouseCoopers told the Indonesian House of Representatives last week that its review of the Bank Bali transaction was hampered by central bank delays in providing PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors with the information they sought.