President demands immediate disclosure of PwC report

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)