Indonesia Revokes Banking Merger

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31862, 14 December 1968, Page 21

Indonesia Revokes Banking Merger

(N.Z.P.A. -Reuter—Copyright DJAKARTA, December 13. Indonesia has prepared reforms to streamline its State banking system and end some of the abuses and disruption it suffered under President Sukarno’s regime.

‘ A series of six banking ’ laws just passed by Parliament and now awaiting Presi- ‘ dential signature revoke a . structural reform introduced 1 by Jusuf Muda Dalam, Sukarno’s former Central Bank Minister. Mr Jusuf made Indonesia’s I five State banks, mainly • Dutch concerns nationalised i by Sukarno’s Government, ■ into five units of the same : bank to bring them under i one command. The new laws cancel this i system—which was never properly implemented—and set| up each bank separately! again. Details of their business i

are laid down and include provision for six-monthly publication of their balancesheets, something which did not happen when President Sukarno was in power. The idea behind the separation of the five banks is to create healthy competition among them since their functions overlap in many instances. It will also reduce confusion caused abroad by Mr Jusuf’s merger.

Each of the five banks had its traditional network of correspondent relations with foreign banks which ran into administrative confusion when they all received the same name.