Taspen's profits decline by 10.5%
Taspen's profits decline by 10.5%
JAKARTA (JP): PT Taspen, the state-owned pension provident funds for civil servants and employees of state-owned companies, reported a 10.5 percent decline in net profits to Rp 52.1 billion (US$ 22.5 million) last year.
Taspen's president, Purwanto Abdulcadir, told the House of Representatives' Commission VII yesterday that the company's drop in profits was due mainly to the sharp increase in pension payments, to Rp 399.4 billion from Rp 334.3 billion in 1994.
"The increase in civil servant salaries, particularly those of judges, as well as the early retirement of some 5,000 employees of state-owned PT Telkom, raised our spending sharply last year," Abdulcadir said. Pensions are increased in line with salaries.
Moreover, according to Abdulcadir, the increase in spending was also caused by the new pension payment scheme launched in early 1994 under which Taspen is obliged to cover 22.5 percent of total pension payments between 1994 and 1998, with the remaining 77.5 percent funded directly by the state budget.
Until 1993, pension payments were sourced entirely from the state budget.
He said that Taspen's share of the pension payments will further increase to 25 percent in 1999, 27.50 percent in 2004 and 33.9 percent in 2009.
"We therefore have to provide a steadily rising amount of cash for the monthly pension payments. That means that our investments have to emphasize not only high returns but also liquidity," he said.
As of Dec. 31 last year, Taspen's total investment fund reached Rp 9 trillion, which were accumulated from pension and provident fund contributions from civil servants throughout the country.
Pensions funds accounted for Rp 6.2 trillion of the total fund and provident funds for the remaining Rp 2.8 trillion.
He explained that 48.4 percent of the total funds, worth Rp 4.3 trillion, were invested in Bank Indonesia Certificates, 21.9 percent in time deposits, 13 percent in bonds, 12.2 percent in stocks, 3.3 percent in direct investment, and the remaining 1 percent in other instruments.
He said that the company will take equity participation through direct placements in five companies this year. Those companies are PT Pasaraya, PT Continental Carbon Indonesia, PT Satria Priatama, PT Marga Mandala Sakti and PT Bhineka Multi Corporation.
He declined to specify the amount of the equity stakes in those companies, but he said "the total investment may be as large as last year."
As of last year, Taspen's total direct investments amounted to Rp 304.1 billion which were put in 14 companies.
Abdulcadir also explained that the number of civil servants taking part in the Taspen pension fund now totals 4.1 million. (08) or