Taspen to up stake in Kesejahteraan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned pension firm PT Taspen plans to boost its stake in Bank Kesejahteraan from the current 10 percent, company president Achmad Subianto said on Thursday.

"We have proposed to the Minister of Finance an increase in our shares in the bank so that it could become the bank for government employees," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Taspen manages around Rp 20 trillion (US$2.38 billion) worth of funds, collected from some 3.7 million government employees.

Achmad also hoped the central bank would immediately approve the plan as it was in line with Bank Indonesia's new ruling, which requires banks to increase their capital level. The money from Taspen could be used by Bank Kesejahteraan for that purpose.

He, however, declined to mention the size of the planned investment in Bank Kesejahteraan.

Currently, Taspen invests around 60 percent of its funds in bank time deposits and stocks and the remaining 40 percent in bonds.

Achmad said Taspen planned to increase its investment in government bonds this year as revenue from time deposits have continued to declined since last year amid declining domestic interest rates.

He added that Taspen's profit this year was projected to fall to Rp 180 trillion from Rp 250 billion last year, mainly due to the declining interest rates.