Jamsostek to buy BRI, PGN stakes
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
State-owned insurance firm PT Jamsostek plans to purchase a significant number of shares in state-owned lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and gas company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) during their initial public offering (IPO).
Jamsostek's president Achmad Junaidi said on Monday that one of the company's main obligations was to support all government programs, including to ensure the success of BRI and PGN privatization.
"We plan to buy a large portion of BRI and PGN shares during their IPO, in order to help their privatization programs run well. But thus far, we haven't decided on the figures yet," said Junaidi on the sidelines of a press gathering.
The government is planning to sell a 20 percent stake in PGN and 30 percent in BRI later in October and November respectively to help plug the widening budget deficit this year, estimated to reach 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), or about Rp 35.1 trillion.
As of the end of June this year, Jamsostek had invested Rp 23.1 trillion (US$2.7 billion) in funds collected from workers in various investment portfolios.
As of the first semester this year, a total of 21.6 million workers from 110,726 companies nationwide participated in the firm's four basic insurance programs: health care, pension funds, an occupational accident program and life insurance.
The company is the only local investor able to move the Jakarta Composite Index as foreign fund managers. In the first semester of this year, the company had invested Rp 1.59 trillion in the stock market.
Jamsostek was said to have purchased some 300 million shares of Bank Mandiri during its IPO in July, in order to help lift the price of the bank's shares at the market.
Elsewhere, Junaidi said that Jamsostek would be ready to help ailing textile maker Texmaco Group if asked by the government.
He explained that if the government was willing, Jamsostek could help inject new capital in the form of bonds to Texmaco.
"We will buy new Texmaco bonds to help the company, but only with the government's approval," said Junaidi.
Texmaco owes a total of $3.4 billion to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency. It also owes at least $1 billion to foreign bondholders, a debt which has yet to restructured, including about $700 million owed by its main textile unit, PT Polysindo Eka Perkasa.