ID :
140797
Sun, 09/05/2010 - 06:55
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THIRTY-NINE PCT OF PERBANAS MEMBERS FAVOR OJK`S FORMATION

Jakarta, Sept 4 (ANTARA) - A survey by the National Banks Association (Perbanas) has shown that 39 percent of its members favor the proposed establishment of a financial services authority (OJK) to supervise banking and financial institutions.

"Forty-one percent, however, disapprove while the remaining 20 percent have no opinion," Perbanas chairman Sigit Pramono said during a fast breaking gathering here on Friday.

He said the survey was done on 60 bank directors and commissioners in Indonesia.

Overall, the survey results meant that banks actually did not reject OJK completely.

"Moreover, the issue was already settled in 2004 through the issuance of the Law on Bank Indonesia. So actually now is not the time to question it, except if there is plan to revise the BI Law but so far this has not happened," he said.

Pramono said what mattered was the form of the OJK.

He said there was certainly some merit in establishing the OJK considering the dominant position of banks in financial services.

Although among the more than 3000 financial service companies in Indonesia there were only 121 general banks, the latter however control 87 percent of all assets in the financial services sector.

Regarding bank development he hoped there would be a clear blueprint for banking development in the future.

"This does not yet exist right now while the present policies all tend to be merely to meet short-term needs," he said.

He said a blueprint would be needed to anticipate possible changes in government and politics as one of the characteristics of democracy.
"Development of banks cannot be put in the hands of politicians as their thinking tends to be for the short-term," he said.

He said Indonesia's banking industry was now in the most healthy condition ever. "With its capital adequacy ratio at 18 percent and non-performing loan at 2.98 percent, the banking industry is now healthier than ever before," he said.

The government still has to draw up an OJK bill for presentation to the House of Representatives (DPR).

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