Former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi alleged that the two entities put pressure to trigger market panic so foreign investors could buy Indonesian assets cheaply.
\n\nCover via m.lutfi/Instagram, Hubert Lim/Google Maps, Temasek
\n\nSingapore’s state investors Temasek and GIC have denied allegations by former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi that they helped instigate Indonesia’s recent stock market rout.
\n\nLutfi had accused the two institutions of pressuring global index provider MSCI to threaten a downgrade of Indonesia’s market status, with the aim of driving share prices down so foreign investors could buy Indonesian assets cheaply.
\n\nAccording to Bloomberg, Fock Wai Hoong, Temasek Global Investments’ head of Asia-Pacific excluding China and India, rejected the allegations at a technology industry briefing in Singapore on Oct. 21.
\n\nLutfi’s accusations “have no basis and are patently untrue”, Fock said.
\n\nHe added that neither Temasek nor its employees had approached MSCI or influenced its decisions.
\n\nA GIC spokesperson also rejected the claims, noting that the fund had invested in Indonesia for more than 30 years.
\n\n“The allegations about GIC and our staff are untrue,” the spokesperson said.
\n\nGIC added that it bases investment decisions on individual companies and assets, rather than index classifications or broad assessments of…
Original source: https://mothership.sg/
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