Syahril may step down

Syahril may step down

LONDON (AFX): Bank Indonesia governor Syahril Sabirin said he might step down before his term ends on May 2003 even if he is cleared of charges in the Bank Bali trial.

In an interview with Central Banking, a quarterly journal, he said he is not sure if he will serve his full term.

In early 2000, Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid threatened to name Syahril, who was appointed in Feb 1998, a suspect in the case if he did not resign as governor.

The case relates to the reimbursement by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency of Rp 904 billion to Bank Bali during the banking crisis of 1997/98.

Syahril said Abdurrahman had offered him an ambassadorship "to make it look elegant", but if he had resigned, the central bank's independence would "remain only in legal script".

He said he was "100 percent sure that I am innocent", adding that he would appeal to the supreme court if necessary.

Syahril said the International Monetary Fund's delay in paying the last tranche of its loan program to Indonesia pending the fulfillment of the government's promises on macroeconomic reform is damaging the economy "quite considerably". He said however that the IMF had every reason to be strict.