Two top officials of IBRA resign
JAKARTA (JP): Two deputy chairmen of the powerful Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) have tendered their resignation amid rumors of increasing political interference with the agency.
Deputy chairman for the bank restructuring unit (BRU) Jerry Ng confirmed on Monday that he had submitted his resignation letter to IBRA chairman Edwin Gerungan.
Separately, Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo confirmed that deputy chairman Mahmudin Jassin for asset management investment (AMI) had also tendered his resignation.
Prijadi said that Mahmudin would return to the finance ministry. But the finance minister said that he was still unaware of Jerry's resignation.
He declined to provide further details.
The IBRA, which controls over Rp 600 trillion (US$64 billion) worth of various banking assets, is a unit under the finance ministry.
The agency has five deputy chairmen and one senior deputy chairman. The other three deputies are in charge of asset management credit, support and administration and risk management.
Jerry dismissed speculation that his resignation was prompted by stronger political intervention in the designing and implementation of bank restructuring policy.
"There are no elements of surprise (in the resignation)," he told The Jakarta Post by phone.
Jerry said that he had been discussing his resignation plan with Edwin since November as most of the major bank restructuring programs at the agency had technically been completed.
He pointed out the completion of the recapitalization of all banks under the IBRA in May last year, the merger process of Bank Danamon with eight other banks, the divestment of 22.5 percent government ownership in Bank Central Asia (BCA), the technical preparations for the second divestment program of BCA, and the settlement of interbank claims.
But sources said that Jerry, a former banker, decided last year to resign from the agency because he thought he could no longer work professionally due to increasing political interference.
The IBRA must first seek approval from the Financial Sector Policy Committee (FSPC), which groups several senior economic ministers, before it decides on major bank and debt restructuring programs.
The FSPC was formed last year following the emergence of the high profile Bank Bali scandal that badly affected the image of the IBRA.
But sources said that the FSPC had been too deeply involved in the bank restructuring program.
The IBRA was strongly criticized by the International Monetary Fund, when it decided, upon the request of the House of Representatives, to delay the second divestment of BCA in December. The government said at the time that the delay was due to weak market conditions.
The agency now plans to make the divestment sometime in June. The IBRA will also sell a majority stake in the publicly listed Bank Niaga.
Another pressing program of the bank restructuring unit is to improve the capital condition of publicly listed Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) and Bank Universal.
The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of the two banks are still below 8 percent, the minimum capital standard required of all banks by the end of this year.
Sources said that the IBRA had already prepared measures to resolve the problem of BII and Universal, but the FSPC has yet to give its approval.
The IBRA, set up in 1998, is mandated to raise around Rp 27 trillion in cash this year to help finance the 2001 state budget deficit.
The BRU unit is expected to contribute around Rp 3.6 trillion to the Rp 27 trillion target from the sale of BCA and Bank Niaga.
AMI is expected to contribute around Rp 9.9 trillion from the sale of IBRA equities in various companies.
The IBRA has said that for this year it will concentrate on selling shares in various companies surrendered by the Salim Group, the former owner of BCA. (rei)