Parliament's Bank Century case Monitoring Team to Call Boediono

Jakarta (Antara) - The Bank Century Case Monitoring Team in Parliament plans to call Vice President Boediono for a meeting on December 18, 2013. "The Monitoring Team has reached a consensus, after reviewing all considerations, to call Vice President Boediono for a meeting with the team on December 18," asserted Pramono Anung, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, here on Wednesday. He explained that all factions in Parliament's Bank Century Case Monitoring Team believe that it is necessary to call Boediono in connection with the Bank Century case. "So, all have agreed that it is necessary to call Boediono. We will send a letter (to Boediono) this week," he confirmed. The team members seek clarification directly from the vice president regarding his policy to provide bailout funds for Bank Century while he was the governor of Bank Indonesia, he noted. "We do not want to interfere with the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). However, there are several things that must be 'clarified,'" he added. Vice President Boediono recently defended his decision to provide a bailout fund to Century Bank in 2008 when he was the governor of Bank Indonesia, referring to it as a necessity to safeguard Indonesia's economy. On Nov. 23, 2013, the vice president held a press conference after being questioned as a witness by the KPK for seven hours earlier in the day. The bailout provided to Century Bank has become controversial, since the funds quickly increased from the initial amount set by Bank Indonesia. "The bailout fund was necessary to save our economy from a crisis. A failure in even the smallest financial institution, at that time, might have created a negative domino effect in this country," he clarified. Bank Century received a bailout of Rp6.7 trillion during the financial crisis of 2008, despite failing to fulfil the requirements for a bailout. According to the State Audit Board, Bank Indonesia modified its own regulations to receive the loan. (*)