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)