TEMPO.CO, Yokohama - The Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the government will not let the debtors of Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) during the 1998 economic crisis off the hook. The government will continue to collect their debt and seek legal actions against them.
“[The case dossiers] of eight debtors have been handed over to the police,” Sri Mulyani said in Yokohama last week. Moreover, the legal proceedings of eight debtors are underway at the Attorney General’s Office. She, however, did not name the debtors.
According to Sri Mulyani, at least 25 debtors had enjoyed the BLBI funds. Seven of whom had admitted to the debts, two have claimed to be incapable of meeting their liabilities and three have paid off their debts.
She promised that the government will collect the debt and interest from the 25 debtors. The previous administration had earlier submitted the list of government receivables over the BLBI to the AGO, the National Police and the Interpol. The Finance Ministry has also been regularly supplied data to the Corruption Eradication Commission.
Earlier, Finance Ministry director general of state wealth Vincentius Sonny Loho said that the BLBI debtors owe the government Rp31 trillion. He confirmed that they did not receive the release and discharge letter (SKL), but some had said that the debts had been paid off. “Sometimes people can argue that they no longer have debts, but we believe that they do. We are working on it,” he said.
The BLBI case has reemerged after the KPK named the former director of National Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN) Syafruddin Temenggung as a suspect. In 2002, Syafruddin allegedly wrongly issued a letter of release and discharge to BLBI debtor Sjamsul Nursalim worth Rp3.7 trillion.
Sonny, however, said that the ministry is no longer responsible for collecting Sjamsul Nursalim’s liabilities. The reason: the debtor had already received a release and discharge letter.
The BLBI funds were disbursed following a major economic crisis in 1997. The liquidity assistance disbursement involved the IMF. Maladministration and irregular system of the assistance program have caused state losses, according to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
The government reports that the financial crisis that took place 20 years ago has left the country with Rp244 in sovereign debt. The Finance Ministry, the Financial Service Authority (OJK) and Bank Indonesia have improved the system by no longer offering to bail out collapsing banks. Assistance funds will instead be offered by the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS) as an incubator for the initiative to save such banks. “With bail-in scheme, the 1998 crisis will never happen again,” the LPS chairman Fauzi Ichsan said.
Erwan Hermawan (yokohama) | Ghoida Rahmah | Andi Ibnu