Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has berated the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) for the publication of details of year’s decision to bail out Bank Century.
Mulyani said minutes of the meeting on the Century bailout made public Wednesday were part of a “confidential document”, and were not the sole item her ministry had submitted to the BPK.
“Where did Pak Drajad get that data?” she said Thursday at the State Palace after a Cabinet meeting, referring to economist and former legislator Drajad Wibowo, who distributed the minutes of the Nov. 21, 2008, meeting.
That meeting was the last before the decision to save Century was made.
The minutes revealed Bank Indonesia had insisted on saving Century despite warnings from Mulyani and the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam).
“Let’s put it this way: There are many more documents I’ve given to the BPK for audit and investigation,” Mulyani said.
“Just make all of them public if that’s the point, so there won’t be all this hullaballoo.”
The minutes indicated that then BI governor Boediono (now Vice President) failed to provide sufficient data to support claims that Century’s collapse could lead to a systemic threat to the country’s banking system.
The minutes showed Bapepam arguing that “Bank Century is only a small bank, and therefore it wouldn’t pose a serious and significant financial risk to other banks”.
The agency went on to say the bailout cast doubt on the stability of the country’s banking industry.
Mulyani, meanwhile, was noted as saying such an action set a precedent for bailing out
other banks, should they get into trouble.
BI then responded to the arguments by claiming the systemic risk was “difficult to quantify” and that it was better to act prudently on the Century issue.
The minutes then showed that BI was not able to justify with concrete data its arguments on the importance of saving Century, and that Mulyani’s final opinion was that “all possible risks, including those related to a systemic threat, must be clearly presented and discussed” before making the final decision.
After her statement, followed by another argument from BI that bailing out Century was important, the minutes concluded with the point that Century was systematically damaging, without giving further details.
On Wednesday, Drajad said he hoped all those linked to the Century scandal be investigated.
Public pressure for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to take a definite stance on the Century saga, with a bailout bill of Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million), has been mounting over recent weeks.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar played down speculation that Yudhoyono had something to do with the scandal.
Yudhoyono “has never taken a cent” from anyone involved with the bank, Patrialis said.
“Don’t be suspicious. I’m telling you, Pak SBY is 100 percent clear, he has no problems with Bank Century,” he said after the Cabinet meeting.
The House of Representatives, meanwhile, will on Dec. 1 decide on whether to form an inquiry committee into the issue, after more than 200 legislators drew up a petition.
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