Combined profits at Indonesian state-owned companies, which include Garuda Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia, jumped last year. (Photo: Reuters) Jakarta (VNA) – According to Indonesian State Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir, the total profit of 41 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) jumped 143% in 2022 to 303.7 trillion IDR (20 billion USD), led by banks making more money on their loan portfolios.
He said the total figure includes a "noncash" profit of 55 trillion IDR by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia as a result of the debt-ridden company's restructuring moves.
But even without Garuda, SOEs overall posted 248 trillion IDR in net income in 2022, nearly double from 125 trillion IDR the year before. Thohir added that financial services made the largest contributions, with four top state lenders alone making up nearly half of the total consolidated income minus Garuda's.
Indonesia's largest SOEs, oil and gas company Pertamina and utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara, have so far only published older results on their websites.
The SOEs' overall performance last year reflects the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, as Indonesia's economy grew 5.31%, a nine-year high. But 2023 offers a bleaker picture, with recessions in other parts of the world and falling commodity prices expected to slow the country's exports. The International Monetary Fund projects 4.8% economic growth for Indonesia this year.
Slowing exports are expected to directly affect state miners. That is in addition to the government's plan to ban exports of raw materials including copper, bauxite and tin starting this year in a push to develop domestic processing industries, which could hurt the miners in the short term.
State construction companies, meanwhile, still face debt problems. They have accumulated massive obligations since President Joko Widodo took office in 2014, as they have been tasked with building roads, railways, ports and airports to support the president's ambitious infrastructure push.
Garuda, on the other hand, is facing another legal challenge against its debt restructuring plan by Ireland-based lessors Greylag Goose Leasing 1410 and 1446, which filed the applications in a Jakarta court last week./.
