Indonesia's Ramli urges IMF to review its strategy

JAKARTA, July 6 (Reuters) - Indonesian Finance Minister Rizal Ramli on Friday urged a high level IMF mission to review the Fund's approach of setting deadlines for asset sales, saying the practice pushed prices lower.

Ramli, who has repeatedly crossed swords with the IMF over various reforms, said disclosing asset sales in advance was also a risk. "It is urged that a tendency (by the IMF) to get involved in micro management
should be avoided because otherwise it will push the price (of assets to be sold) to very low levels," Ramli told reporters after meeting with the mission on the second day of talks.

The mission, led by Asia-Pacific deputy director Anoop Singh, is expected to revive a $5 billion programme stalled in December over missed economic targets and, most recently, controversial central bank law amendments.

One of those missed targets was the sale of a stake in Indonesia's largest retail bank, Bank Central Asia (BCA) <BBCA.JK> -- originally slated for sale in December but still in the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency's (IBRA) vast portfolio.

IBRA was due to announce the winner of a maximum 30 percent strategic stake sale last week but said it needed more time to evaluate bids.

Analysts said the delay in the strategic stake sale was due to lower than expected bids. A 10 percent stake of BCA was also offered to the public on July 4-6.

"The names of the assets to be sold should not be known (long before the sale) because it will have an impact on prices. If the timing is known, prices could drop," Ramli said. When asked whether the IMF would be willing to review its approach he said: "(They) have given a positive response."

IBRA, which owns 70.3 percent of BCA, is under mounting pressure to help support a gaping budget deficit by accelerating sales of the huge cache of assets it took over when Indonesia plunged into crisis in the late 1990s. BCA shares were up 25 rupiah at 950 by 0900 GMT.

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