Mulyani defends her decision to bail out Century

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/24/2010 8:29 PM

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that she, as the chairwoman of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), had succeeded in preventing a crisis by saving Bank Century from collapse, while acknowledging that there may have been flaws in the process.

"I think all parties agree that there was a crisis, which is a big development. And according to the mandate and authority given under the regulation-in-lieu-of-law on the Financial System Safety Net, the chairperson's job is to prevent a crisis," she said in a press conference Wednesday.

"We will also learn what are stated as indicators of violation point to which laws and regulations so we can arrange the consequences. As far as we are concerned, of all information given to the inquiry committee we tried to run all tasks and responsibilities to prevent a crisis and manage the economy based on existing laws," she added.

Mulyani also said she made the bailout decision based on data provided on that day, which could not be compared to today. "If the comparison is made this day where they have 24 hours to conduct an investigation, review all parties, it's not a crisis," she said.

"So there might be imperfect information that if reviewed 18 months later could be perfected, I say it was administrative violation, or clumsiness. It's not a big sin," she said.

"We in the KSSK consider that I ran my authority as cleanly as possible. I used all sources to guide us all to stay in the corridor of laws as public officials," said Mulyani.

She refuted the statement that the Finance Ministry let Century officials go. "We did not let them go. The finance minister banned them, the finance minister formed the coordination team comprising the National Police, Attorney General's Office, Justice and Human Rights Ministry and Foreign Ministry to chase the assets. How could they be considered as letting go?" she said.

She expected the political, legal and administrative processes could be done objectively to ensure public officials feel secure when performing their tasks. "I am sure that the processes will run in line with each corridor," she said.

Mulyani also responded to speculation that she might be replaced as the finance minister. "Cabinet make up is the President's portfolio. So the President will carefully consider what is good for the government and the people," she said.