State Banks Contribution to State Budget in Dividend Cut

   Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Minister for State Enterprises (BUMN) Rini M Soemarno said state banks are allowed to keep more government dividend to strengthen their capital for expansion.

          They are required only to pay 20 percent of the government dividend to the state budget from originally 30 percent, Rini said here on Wednesday.

          The minister  said the decision was made on proposals from state lenders aimed at strengthening their capital to be more competitive especially with the implementation of ASEAN Economic Community that would mean free trade in this region.

          "The proposals were not the same between Bank BRI, Mandiri, BNI,  and BTN. I do't remember the details," she said .

          She said currently banks in the country are confronted with the requirement to raise their capital adequacy ratio (CAR).

         "The CARs of our banks are relatively low compared with those of banks in other ASEAN countries," she said, adding as the largest economy in this region, the country's banks should be larger and stronger.

         She said so far state banks have paid large government dividend to support the state banks that they could not expand as rapidly as expected.

         Altogether the government proposed a cut in the dividend payments by state companies  to Rp35 trillion to the 2015 state budget form Rp44 trillion  in 2014.

         "The cuts in dividend vary depending on the condition of the companies and their business lines. Energy companies such as Pertamina,  and service companies such as construction companies are allowed to cut their dividend payment to enable then to finance their business expansion ," Rini said.

         There are even state  companies that  could not pay dividends as they are still in the red such as PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk, PT Aneka Tambang Tbk  and PT Krakatau Steel Tbk. (WDY)