President demands immediate disclosure of PwC report

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid has asked for the audit report of the high profile Bank Bali scandal to be published immediately, newly appointed Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie said.

"There has been a demand from the President to publish the report as soon as possible," Kwik told reporters.

Kwik said an immediate publication of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report was crucial to restore international confidence, particularly to amend relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as other donors, and to support the country's strapped state budget.

The IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank suspended their loan disbursement for Indonesia after the previous B.J. Habibie administration failed to keep its promise to international donors to publish the PwC report.

The IMF demands the disclosure of the PwC report for the sake of transparency.

The IMF is organizing a US$43 billion bailout fund to help finance the country's economic programs for solving the economic crisis.

Out of the fund's total commitment of $12.3 billion, some $9.5 billion has been released. A disbursement from the IMF would also encourage other donors to lend money and investors to invest.

Kwik said IMF Asia-Pacific director Hubert Neiss is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Monday.

Neiss said on Wednesday the IMF would work together with the new Indonesian government to help fix the country's crisis-hit economy.

But he said the fund was still awaiting the publication of the PwC audit.

Meanwhile, key members of the House of Representatives joint committee for the investigation of the Bank Bali scandal also vowed on Thursday to push for an immediate disclosure of the report.

The head of House Commission IX for financial and planning affairs, Sukowaluyo, said public disclosure of the PwC report was crucial for the resumption of IMF and World Bank loan disbursements to help finance the state budget.

"It's very important to resolve this case transparently, satisfactorily and fairly for the interest of the nation," said Sukowaluyo, a senior legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the largest single political party in the legislature.

"I want the report to be published ... Kwik has said that our budget is already in the red," he added.

Kwik said on Wednesday his top priority was to fix relations with the IMF, which were damaged by the Bank Bali scandal, because international support was crucial to help finance the country's various economic programs designed to help the economy recover from the crisis.

Head of House Commission II for home and law affairs, Amien Arjoso, conceded.

"My personal view is that the report must be immediately published. But it (the decision to publish the PwC report) depends on the joint committee," said Amien, also a PDI Perjuangan party legislator.

Sukowaluyo said the joint committee would have its first meeting next week on either Thursday or Friday, selecting its chairman and four deputy chairmen. The committee is expected to complete its job by the middle of December.

He expected House Speaker Akbar Tandjung to hand over the PwC report to the joint committee once the chairman of the committee was selected, opening a possibility that the report could be published prior to the deadline.

The PwC report contains names of some people involved in the scandal, allegedly including influential people close to Habibie, such as ministers and other senior state officials.

But a week before the presidential election, Akbar received the full PwC report from the Supreme Audit Agency after the Supreme Court issued a ruling that disclosing the report would not breach the country's banking secrecy code.

The House has ordered Commission II and IX to form a joint committee to investigate the scandal and to decide on whether the report should be published or not.

Sukowaluyo said the committee would summon several important people mentioned in the PwC report for clarification.

A previous House investigation team also summoned several important people close to Habibie.

When asked whether Habibie would also be summoned, he said: "Such a possibility is not ruled out."

In a related development, PDI Perjuangan legislator Benny Pasaribu said on Thursday that based on various data compiled by the party, there was an indication that a certain group of people was trying to control various state assets, including the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), state enterprises, the custom and excise office and the central bank.

He said the Bank Bali scandal was just one example. (rei)