March 27, 2008

House hopes for govt clarification on settlement of BLBI case

Filed under: Uncategorized
The House of Representatives hoped that the government provides effective directives in the settlement of the National Bank Liquidity Fund (BLBI) scandal which had incurred a loss of hundreds of trillions of rupiah to the state.

"An answer its expected which truly reflects certainty," House Speaker Agung Laksono told the press here on Wednesday.

It was said that what had been conveyed by the legislators wishing for an interpelation on the BLBI case was a consistent stance to settle the case.

Therefore, according to him, the House hoped for government concrete steps to restore the assets to the state.

"The state assets in the form of Bank Indonesia facilities which they had taken away will hopefully be returned to the state which is now facing financial difficulties," he said.

Agung further said that at least 10 percent of the revised state budget had been deducted and each year about Rp52 trillion of bonds is also posing a burden to the state budget.

"Based on these facts, all of us question the government`s answer to the BLBI case," he said.

According to him, if the president`s answer could be received on April 1, the House would be have a clear picture of the steps to be taken in the future in a bid to save the state`s money.

Earlier in a plenary session of the House, some legislators expressed dissatisfaction over the government`s answer of February 12, 2008 which was deemed too lenient.

"The government`s answer is far from expectations," said Azwar Anas who was hoping for the government`s concrete and firm steps to make the obligors pay their debts.

The house`s plenary session will be continued on April 1, 2008 to listen to the government`s answer to the views of the legislators.