Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's government yesterday delayed announcing a new owner for Bank Central Asia (BCA) following nationwide protests by thousands of the bank's workers, but stressed that the much-awaited deal would be concluded soon.

State Enterprise Minister Laksamana Sukardi told reporters: "We decided to delay it for a few days because of the worker protests." But he added that the deal would be announced soon. Officials will use the extra time to convince BCA workers that there will be no job cuts or management reshuffling after the sale.

Mr Laksamana has already hinted that the sale contract might include such guarantees from the new owner. Other government sources confirmed the deal – to be struck with one of two consortiums led respectively by Standard Chartered Bank and United States investment firm Farallon Capital – could be closed as early as this week.

But while the demonstrations failed to scuttle outright the government's plans, they spurred other critics into action and sparked fresh resistance to the sale.

Among the new critics is Dr Amien Rais, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and leader of the National Mandate Party, who met with the BCA workers' representative on Monday. He promised to meet Mr Laksamana and other officials in order to get the "BCA tender process repeated, delayed or cancelled altogether".

In what could be an early campaign speech aimed at the 2004 general election, he took up the banner of nationalism and said: "Foreigners need Indonesia, we don't need them."

Calls to keep BCA in government hands have also come from National Development Minister Kwik Kian Gie, who reportedly met BCA workers a few weeks ago in anticipation of the demonstrations.

The sale of BCA, which the government seized from the Salim Group conglomerate three years ago, is viewed by analysts, foreign investors and lenders as a crucial test of the Jakarta government's commitment to banking reforms.

Jakarta needs the expected US$450 million (S$820 million) from the deal to finance its budget deficit. It has promised the sale to foreign lenders, including those who will soon decide whether to ease repayment terms on about US$6 billion owed by Indonesia.

But the BCA case is yet another clear illustration of how much the public resents the idea of foreigners buying up local assets, even at a time when the country sorely needs to raise money and to r- attract investors. Even Vice-President Hamzah Haz has disclosed that he personally disapproves of the privatisation of state enterprises.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia Governor Syahril Sabirin warned that scrapping the BCA sale would put Jakarta in deeper trouble: 'The BCA sale is seen as a benchmark for other divestment programmes. If cancelled, it will have a serious impact on the investment climate.'