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.