President says no new chairman for IBRA yet
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid has no immediate plan to appoint a new chairman for the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency to replace Cacuk Sudarijanto, Presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told reporters on Monday.
As the eyes of the international economic community now focus on Indonesia, any changes in key government personnel have to be based on thorough deliberations, Wimar said, indicating the importance of continuity during the meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia creditor consortium that convenes in Tokyo on Tuesday.
"No, there is no plan yet to replace the IBRA chairman," he said in reply to reporters' questions as to whether Cacuk would soon be replaced by Widigdo Sukarman.
There has been widespread speculation that Cacuk, who is also the junior minister for economic restructuring, would soon be replaced by Widigdo, former president of state-owned Bank BNI.
Rumors about the shake-up in IBRA top management became much stronger last week after Finance Minister Prijadi Parptosuhardjo confirmed that IBRA vice chairman Arwin Rasyid, leading a roadshow in Tokyo, was replaced by Slamet Sumantri, one of Arwin's deputies.
However, since Prijadi made no strong denial to speculation of an imminent replacement of Cacuk, the financial community remained abuzz with strong rumors that Cacuk was counting his days at the agency.
IBRA is structurally under the finance ministry but the President decided last November to put the agency directly under his control.
The market was especially nervous about the possibility of Widigdo rising to the top seat at IBRA as he was widely seen as partly responsible for approving the US$816 million and Rp 450 billion in preshipment loans from Bank BNI to the Texmaco group in 1997 and 1998 that turned sour.
IBRA's proposals for restructuring the debts of Texmaco and three other business groups, which were recently approved by the Financial Sector Policy Committee, have been criticized by most analysts and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as harmful to state interests.
IBRA, which controls more than Rp 600 trillion ($68.1 billion) worth of state assets, holds the key to Indonesian economic recovery as it is in charge of salvaging the ailing banking industry, resolving the huge corporate debt overhang and restructuring the business sectors under IBRA control.
Wimar said thorough considerations should precede any changes in key government personnel, especially the chief of such a vital agency as IBRA.
People should be informed of the reasons for such changes and be assured that the successor is much better than the incumbent being replaced, he added.
"The government certainly cannot tolerate too many mistakes at IBRA. But the government also needs to safeguard the public's perception of this agency," Wimar added.
Most important, according to Wimar, is not the technical problems faced by IBRA but rather the issue as to whether the big debtors are really honest and serious about restructuring their companies to protect the national interests and at the same time allowing justice to be established.
He also said the President had no plan yet to appoint a new chief of the National Logistics Agency, a position which is concurrently held by chief economics minister Rizal Ramli.