I Putu Gde Ary Suta: "Sometimes I feel embarrassed about being the Head of IBRA"
Becoming the Head of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is really like sitting in the hot seat. Especially so for I Putu Gde Ary Suta, who was installed at the healm on 25 June 2001, when the institution was very much in the public spotlight. Rightly so. An audit by public accountants Hans Tuanakotta & Mustofa, had showed that IBRA's total assets, which were supposedly worth Rp645 trillion were actually worth around Rp167 trillion. What's more, the House of Representatives (DPR) was demanding that IBRA ensured the return of 70 percent of the original value of the assets to the government by the end of June 2001. But what was to be done, as in the end IBRA was only able to recoup 20 percent.
January 30, 2001
However, the criticisms of IBRA's performance have not eased off. It has now been hit hard with another problem. In December 2001, The Financial Sector Policy Committee (FSPC) agreed to an extension of the Completion of Shareholders' Obligations (CSO). This agreement of course made the controversy swirling around IBRA even worse. The public and the media stamped it as being too soft on "problem" conglomerates that did not want to pa
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