Jakarta (ANTARA News) - PT Garuda Indonesia is optimistic the market would absorb its stock at the initial public offering opened on Wednesday.

Its financial director, Elisa Lumbantoruan, said here on Wednesday "I have to be optimistic because there is no reason for being not optimistic," she said.

At the outlet at Mandiri Tower Lobby, Plaza Bapindo, investors` interest in buying the Garuda stocks seemed not to be very strong on the first day of offering compared to that at the offering of PT Krakatau Steel shares.

Elisa said the quiet market occurred because people had gone on leave for the Lunar New Year holiday.

She said the offering was not only done in Jakarta but also in Aceh, Medan (North Sumatra), Palembang (South Sumatra), Semarang (Central Java), Surabaya (East Java), Denpasar (Bali), Balikpapan (East Kalimantan) and Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi).

"It is still quiet perhaps because some were taking a long leave for the holiday, after which I believe it will be busy. I predict people will buy at the end of the offering day," she said.

The offering is scheduled to be made on February 2, 4, 7 and 8 from 9am to 4pm.

A domestic investor meanwhile said the short queue happened because many local investors were waiting for the secondary market.

He said they were also not very interested because foreign investors were seen not too enthusiastic to buy Garuda shares.

"I came here just to take a look to see whether there are a lot of buyers or not. More investors are waiting for a secondary market because they think the price will be lower," he said.

Another local investor, Iwan, said Garuda is the only airline company with a class in Indonesia. He believed it was good to invest in the company shares because the company is also government owned.

"I predict the price of the shares will be good because Garuda belongs to the government which will certainly strive to maintain its stability," he said. (*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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