Jakarta. The government has extended the mandate of a government task force assigned to recover assets totaling hundreds of trillions from debtors who benefited from the so-called Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) during the 1998 financial crisis.

The mandate of the BLBI Fund Handling Task Force, established in 2021, has been prolonged until Dec. 31, 2024, from the previous deadline of Dec. 31, 2023.

"The collaboration between agencies involved in Satgas BLBI has proven to form an effective business process to resolve the complexity of BLBI assets," Rionald Silaban, Chairman of  BLBI Task Force, said in a statement on Monday.

By the end of 2023, the task force has successfully reclaimed Rp 35.2 trillion ($ 2.29 billion) from debtors. This includes the cash repayment by debtors, seizure and physical control of assets, ​​43.54 million square meters of land asset acquisition, as well as the transfer of assets to the government. 

"This acquisition reaches 31.87 percent of  the task force's target of Rp 110.454 trillion."

BLBI Task Force's acquisitions include cash forms amounting to Rp 1.3 trillion, seizure and delivery of collateral/other assets valued at Rp 17.38 trillion, and an asset area of 18.84 million square meters, along with physical control of assets valued at Rp 9.59 trillion, covering an asset area of 20.31 million square meters.

Additionally, the transfer of assets to ministries/agencies and regional governments is valued at Rp 3.7 trillion, including assets covering an area of 3.7 million square meters. Non-cash state capital injection (PMN) amounts to Rp 3.15 trillion for assets covering an area of 670,837 square meters.

During the Soeharto presidency, ailing banks received a massive bailout from Bank Indonesia to prevent the country's financial system from collapsing in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. Much of the bailout was misused, leading to the failure of bank owners to repay their debts.