Indonesia Plans to Sell Remaining Stake in Bank Central Asia

Indonesia Plans to Sell Remaining Stake in Bank Central Asia

Indonesia plans to sell its remaining stake in PT Bank Central Asia, the country's second- largest lender by assets, on the stock market, an official at the asset-sale agency said.

"We are prepared to sell the stake at any time" after the finance ministry approves the sale, Renny Rorong, a spokesman at PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset, as the agency is known, said in a telephone interview in Jakarta today.

Indonesia has been selling stakes in banks and other companies it acquired after the 1997 Asian financial crisis to cover its budget deficit, estimated at more than Rp 17.4 trillion (US$1.87 billion) this year, and recoup part of the more than Rp 450 trillion it spent on the bailout of banks.

The government owns 5.02 percent of Bank Central, valued at Rp 2.36 trillion at the current market price. Shares of Bank Central Asia, which have risen 28.6 percent this year, rose Rp 125 or 3.4 percent to Rp 3,825 at the close of trading on the Jakarta Stock Exchange today.

The government also owns 10.5 percent of PT Bank Danamon, the country's fifth-largest lender, 5.53 percent of PT Bank Internasional Indonesia, the sixth-biggest, and 5.23 percent of PT Bank Niaga, the No.9 bank.

Indonesia sold a 71 percent stake in PT Bank Permata, the country's seventh-largest lender, last year, raising Rp 3.93 trillion. The government sold 62.2 percent of the lender to Standard Chartered Plc and PT Astra Internasional, which bid jointly to buy Permata.