IMF, WB want fairness in corporate debt workout

IMF, WB want fairness in corporate debt workout

JAKARTA (JP): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank (WB) on Saturday called on the government to be
nondiscriminatory in implementing its corporate debt
restructuring program.

The multilateral lenders said establishing clear and
consistent principles would help accelerate the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency's (IBRA) debt resolution efforts in the long
run.

"We agree with your position that all corporate debt
restructuring arrangements with IBRA be handled in a
nondiscriminatory manner. An agreed set of principles and
processes should not only apply to Texmaco, as you work out the
details of the memo of understanding, but also to other cases,"
the IMF and the World Bank said in a letter delivered on Saturday
to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli.

A copy of the letter was made available to The Jakarta Post.

The letter, jointly signed by World Bank country director in
Indonesia Mark Baird and IMF Jakarta representative John
Dodsworth, was written following media reports that the two
institutions had urged the government to review the debt
restructuring plans made for textile conglomerate Texmaco group
by seeking a second opinion from international consultants.

In a letter dated Sept. 29 to Rizal, the IMF and WB reportedly
warned that the debt workout for Texmaco could set a bad
precedent and prove costly for taxpayers.

But the WB and the IMF said in the Saturday letter that the
two institutions were neither endorsing nor criticizing any
particular asset restructuring proposal.

"We are not in a position to do so, nor would it be
appropriate. What we are doing, and have done consistently in the
past, is to draw attention to the principles and processes that
should guide these decisions, as embodied in the government's
various letters of intent with the IMF," Baird and Dodsworth said
in the letter.

In response to the IMF and WB criticism, Rizal lashed out on
Friday at the two institutions, saying that they were
discriminatory by only questioning the Texmaco restructuring
plans.

"Why has the IMF (and the World Bank) only questioned the
Texmaco deal. Why don't they also question the others, including
the Salim Group," Rizal told reporters.

The Salim Group is the founder of Bank Central Asia (BCA),
which owes the government some Rp 53 trillion (US$6.1 billion),
but has only surrendered assets worth about Rp 20 trillion under
a deal made with the previous administration. The current
government has demanded Salim inject additional assets.

Rizal stressed that the government would not be discriminatory
in implementing the country's corporate debt restructuring
program.

The Financial Sector Policy Committee (FSPC), which comprises
several economic ministers, approved last Monday evening the
proposals from IBRA to restructure the debts of Texmaco,
Tirtamas, Kali Manis and Banten Java Persada groups, which are
worth more than $3.7 billion.

The restructuring plans have been criticized by analysts as a
a government bailout.

The IMF has cited the restructuring of about Rp 260 trillion
($29.8 billion) in corporate debts taken over by IBRA from closed
and nationalized banks as a vital element of the reform program
to accelerate economic recovery.

The government has yet to provide details on the restructuring
plans, particularly the structure of the exchangeable bonds. The
government has also insisted that the restructuring plans were
not a bailout. (rei)