Run continues on Bank Central Asia
Run continues on Bank Central Asia
JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of worried customers continued to
withdraw their money from Indonesia's largest private bank, Bank
Central Asia (BCA), here and in other cities across the country
as rumors spread that the bank was unable to pay depositors.
Yesterday's run on BCA followed several days of heavy
withdrawals from the bank, which is controlled by the giant Salim
Group and children of former president Soeharto.
Anxious depositors were seen forming long lines at some BCA
branches and automated teller machines (ATMs) here. Some other
branches, which escaped from being destroyed or ransacked by the
recent riots, were still closed or temporarily closed yesterday.
Other branches closed early in the afternoon.
"I have emptied my account here, except for some money to pay
my telephone bill," said Ratna, an employee at a state-owned firm
who just withdrew her money from a BCA branch.
She said she withdrew her money after learning that BCA was
one of the main targets of mobs when massive riots swept Jakarta
on May 13 and May 14. The violence led to the dramatic
resignation last Thursday of then president Soeharto.
BCA said 122 of its offices were damaged, including 17 set on
fire. Dozens of ATMs were also attacked.
Over the past several days, crowds of worried customers have
waited for hours in lines stretching into neighboring compounds
or even onto the streets outside surviving BCA branches.
A security guard at the BCA Pondok Indah branch said customers
had been withdrawing money there since May 18, when many banks
started to operate after being closed due to the rioting.
In a move to bolster confidence in the bank, BCA president
Abdullah Ali called a sudden media conference Sunday to calm
fears by informing the public that BCA's shareholders were still
committed to the bank, as was Bank Indonesia.
Abdullah also said Sudono Salim alias Liem Sioe Liong, a close
ally of Soeharto, was in Los Angeles for medical treatment and
would soon return to Indonesia.
He confirmed that the Salim Group retained a 70 percent
majority stake at the bank and that Soeharto's son Sigit
Hardjojudanto and daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana held the
remaining 30 percent.
He said the bank would operate normally since Bank Indonesia
had guaranteed all deposits, including those at BCA.
Bank Indonesia governor Sjahril Sabirin said the central bank
would continue to inject liquidity into BCA to a certain limit.
Sabirin did not specify what that limit was.
He said the central bank had yet to receive an update on the
state of BCA's finances, but noted that if the bank continued to
register losses for a long time, it would face difficulties.
Antara news agency also reported massive withdrawals from BCA
in other cities outside Jakarta, including Surabaya, Medan and
Palembang.
In Medan, North Sumatra, hundreds of depositors formed long
lines at some BCA branches from 7:30 a.m. Some branches closed
their counters at noon. The heavy queues caused traffic jams in
some streets.
Similar scenes were reported in the South Sumatra provincial
capital of Palembang and the East Java capital of Surabaya.
In those cities, BCA set a maximum limit of Rp 2.5 million
(US$240) per withdrawal per day. Withdrawals through ATMs are
limited at Rp 500,000 for silver card holders and Rp 1 million
for gold card holders. (rid)