JAKARTA (Antara): State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said the government had planned to conduct initial public offerings (IPOs) of 16 state-owned enterprises in 2008 to help improve their financial performances and generate more income for the state budget.

“We suggest the Privatization Team to conduct initial public offerings for 16 companies next year after we get approval from the House of Representatives,” he said Thursday after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to report the state-owned bank BNI's divestment process.

BNI's president director also attended the meeting.

According to Sofyan, the second phase of BNI's divestment had added some Rp 3.9 trillion (US$433 million) to the state income. The share was offered to the public for Rp 2,050 each.

In 2007, he said, the government had expected that privatization would add some Rp 4.7 trillion to the state budget with Rp 3.9 trillion to Rp 4 trillion being obtained from the initial public offerings.

“The rest, around Rp 700 billion, can be obtained from state-owned enterprises' dividend,” he added.

Sofyan said two companies, PT Wijaya Karya and PT Jasa Marga, had gained approval from the House and Privatization Team to conduct their IPOs this year. However he did not mention details of companies would take part in the offerings in 2008. (**)