Mar'ie denies misusing bank liquidity support

Mar'ie denies misusing bank liquidity support

JAKARTA (JP): Mar'ie Muhammad denied on Wednesday allegations
he was involved in abuse of multibillion dollar bank emergency
liquidity support during his tenure as finance minister.

Mar'ie said he never set out to design a banking policy for
personal gain.

"I had no intention to design a policy to seek profit for
myself. Although as a human being, I'm not free from mistakes,"
he said on the sidelines of a business seminar.

"I'm sure that my other colleagues also did not have bad
intentions."

Mar'ie was responding to the findings of the House of
Representatives, which named him as well as other former senior
economic ministers and top Bank Indonesia officials among those
implicated in the loan scandal.

The House also named on Tuesday former coordinating minister
for the economy, finance and industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita,
Mar'ie's succeeding finance ministers Fuad Bawazier and Bambang
Subianto, as well as Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin and
his predecessor Soedradjad Djiwandono.

Legislators requested the attorney general follow up on the
findings.

Mar'ie said the findings of the House special investigative
team led people to believe the liquidity support policy was
intentionally designed for abuse.

"This is dangerous. I think there's a group of people which is
trying to stir up a hornet's nest," he said.

The government provided some Rp 164.5 trillion (US$22.08
billion) in liquidity support between late 1997 and 1998 to help
banks facing massive runs on deposits amid plunging confidence in
the industry. The funds also were used to cover the obligations
of closed institutions.

But a general audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Agency
(BPK) revealed that some Rp 80 trillion of the liquidity support
might have been channeled inappropriately.

The bulk of the liquidity support went to four banks,
including ones owned by relatives of former president Soeharto
and their associates.

Separately, Bank Indonesia's legal affairs chief Amir
Safruddin said the House findings only mentioned the former top
government officials and Bank Indonesia officials as sources for
the House investigative team, not as those implicated in the loan
scandal.

"As sources, these people should be protected by the law," he
told a news conference.

Amir said that a source could not be questioned as a suspect
by the Attorney General's Office.

He said that questioning could only be carried out if there
was enough preliminary evidence, which would only be available
after BPK and the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP)
completed their investigative audit sometime in April or May.

The central bank has been under pressure to explain its role
in channeling the liquidity support policy. There also have been
mounting calls for Sjahril to step down from his position due to
allegations he erred in the implementation of the policy.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said that his
office would meet on Thursday with BPKP to coordinate ways to
immediately resolve the matter.

"We'll try to find practical ways," Marzuki said. (rei/01)