Thu, 11 Sep 2003

Jamsostek earns revenue mostly from bank deposits

Rendi A. Witular The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Please see editing notes in yellow below

State-owned insurance firm PT Jamsostek announced on Wednesday that it had booked Rp 1.64 trillion (US$195 million) in investment revenue, mostly bank interest yield, during the first semester of this year.

During a hearing with House of Representatives Commission VII for social affairs, Jamsostek president Ahmad Djunaidi said that in the first half of the year, the company had invested Rp 23.1 trillion, or 95 percent of its total assets, amounting to Rp 24 trillion.

He explained that during the period, the company invested most of its assets, around Rp 13.8 trillion, in bank deposits that had generated interest totaling Rp 917 billion.

During the period, Jamsostek also invested Rp 7 trillion in bonds and other valuable certificates, Rp 1.59 trillion in the stock market, Rp 150 billion in mutual funds, Rp 32 billion in the real sector and Rp 533 billion in property.

It earned Rp 610 billion from bonds and valuable is term correct? certificates, Rp 95 billion from the stock market, Rp 150 billion from mutual funds, that's the same as the total investment! Rp 1 billion from the real sector and Rp 16 billion from property.

Last year, Jamsostek, which has contracts with thousands of companies and workers nationwide, recorded a net profit of around Rp 2 trillion after paying Rp 200 billion in dividends and taxes to the government.

As of the end of June this year, a total of 21.6 million workers from 110,726 companies had participated in the firm's four basic insurance programs: health care, pension funds, an occupational accident program and life insurance.

The company collected a total of 16.7 percent of the monthly wages in premiums from workers participating in the four programs.

The company has paid out almost Rp 7 trillion in compensation and pensions for five million cases and to workers who have reached the mandatory pension age, since social security programs started in 1978.

Jamsostek is legally a limited liability company, but, in order to boost the company's earnings, the government has proposed to the House a change in the company's status to that of a nonprofit-oriented institution.

As such, it would have no obligation to pay dividends to the government, its largest shareholder. The company would also be exempted from paying taxes.

The government would in turn be required to contribute to Jamsostek programs to show its commitment to providing protection for workers.

Under the proposal, Jamsostek would be controlled by an agency representing the government, labor and businessmen, with direct supervision from the president.