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SOEs to lure tax amnesty funds with bonds, IPOs

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in the energy and construction sectors shared on Thursday their plans to issue debt papers in the immediate future in an efforts to absorb funds returning to the country under the government’s newly launched tax amnesty program

Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 15, 2016

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SOEs to lure tax amnesty funds with bonds, IPOs

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tate-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating in the energy and construction sectors shared on Thursday their plans to issue debt papers in the immediate future in an efforts to absorb funds returning to the country under the government’s newly launched tax amnesty program.

Representatives from various state companies, including electricity firm PLN, oil and gas giant Pertamina, construction player Waskita Karya and toll road operator Jasa Marga, gathered on Thursday with officials from the SOE Ministry, during which they brainstormed plans to attract the anticipated inflow of funds to the capital market after the House of Representatives passed last month the Tax Amnesty Law.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, PLN president director Sofyan Basir said his firm had not yet set out a schedule to issue debt papers as well as target fund absorption from the tax amnesty program.

PLN, Sofyan added, was still assessing which of the company’s projects would be available to be offered as underlying security for the debt papers. “The [repatriated] funds will be absorbed by various instruments, such as bank time deposits, equities, short term loans and bonds, but we don’t know the exact amount yet,” he said.

PLN was one of the SOEs recently told by the ministry to seek extra funding from external sources to support their project expansions following cuts in the planned state capital injection (PMN) last month.

Almost half, or Rp 23.56 trillion (US$1.8 billion), of the capital injection totaling Rp 50.98 trillion approved by the House of Representative last month will be absorbed by PLN. The electricity firm, along with independent power producers, is burdened with a herculean task of meeting the government’s target of increasing nationwide electricity supply by 35,000 megawatts by 2020.

As the Tax Amnesty Law is implemented, the country’s financial authorities are gearing up to welcome trillions of rupiah by drafting three regulations on investment instruments and procedures that are expected to take effect next week.

The program, as previously reported, will grant tax pardons for Indonesians who declare and repatriate their assets by paying penalty rates of 2 to 10 percent from July until March.

To enjoy a tax pardon with lower penalty rates, wealthy Indonesians wishing to avail of the tax amnesty facility must lock their funds in the country with investment options that are guided by the government in a Finance Ministry regulation.

According to the government’s estimates, there is a massive amount of undeclared wealth held by Indonesians overseas and onshore with a figure that exceeds the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) of Rp 13 quadrillion.

The “attractiveness” of the law is expected to shed a light on around Rp 4 quadrillion kept offshore and to repatriate Rp 1 quadrillion into the country’s domestic financial system.

Waskita Karya president director M. Choliq said his company had calculated a capacity to absorb about Rp 15 trillion of repatriated funds as it already planned some corporate actions this year. Of the Rp 15 trillion target, he said roughly Rp 5 trillion would be raised from bonds issuances this year.

Meanwhile, the remaining Rp 10 trillion would be sought by the equity market, which includes an initial public offering (IPO) of its subsidiary Waskita Beton Precast and the divestment of its 40 percent stake in Waskita Toll Road (WTR).

“[State-run securities house] Danareksa Sekuritas will manage the actions. All of the funds raised will be used to finance our toll road project developments,” Choliq said.

Meanwhile, Jasa Marga finance director Anggiasari said the company was still calculating its capacity to absorb repatriated funds under the tax amnesty program. It, however, is set to conduct a bond issue either at year-end or in early 2017.

“We are still assessing the market as we need at least Rp 50 trillion of funds until 2019. Danareksa Sekuritas will coordinate and allocate SOEs in this program [to absorb repatriated funds],” she said.

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