Borrowers from RDI fund told to make audit<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government said on Monday it would ask state-owned and
\nprovincial-owned firms to audit the use of money borrowed from
\nthe central government's investment funds account (RDI) in
\nresponse to claims the loans were not being repaid.<\/p>\n
Director General for Financial Institutions at the Ministry of
\nFinance, Darmin Nasution, said audits were needed to help trace
\nwhere all the money had gone and to ensure prudent accountability
\nmechanisms.<\/p>\n
"Mostly, they are suffering from losses resulting in the
\nfailure to pay back the (RDI) funds. But still, there has to be
\nan audit to determine where the funds went," Darmin said on the
\nsidelines of a hearing with the House of Representatives
\nCommission IX for financial affairs.<\/p>\n
He was responding to calls from several state-owned and
\nprovincial-owned enterprises to provide them with debt relief
\nfacilities due to their poor financial condition.<\/p>\n
The RDI funds are derived from accumulated interest rate gains
\nthe central government has obtained from the extension of two-
\nstep loans.<\/p>\n
The funds originated from foreign loans which the government
\nextended to various parties for investment purposes. Besides
\nstate enterprises, the debtors also include regional
\nadministrations.<\/p>\n
As of May 2003, there was some Rp 23 trillion (US$2.77
\nbillion) in cash kept in the RDI account in the central bank,
\nDarmin said.<\/p>\n
More than Rp 67 trillion of funds are still in the hands of
\nborrowers.<\/p>\n
Darmin said the government would stop channeling RDI funds
\nuntil the House provided clear-cut guidelines for the use of the
\nRDI account.<\/p>\n
Earlier, state-owned airline PT Merpati Nusantara asked for up
\nto Rp 200 billion in low-interest loans from the RDI account to
\nimprove the company's financial standing.<\/p>\n
The RDI funds are currently kept at Bank Indonesia (BI), but
\nno interest is charged. The Development Finance Comptroller
\naudits the funds every year.<\/p>\n
The RDI has long been regarded as one of the government's
\nsources of non-budgetary funds.<\/p>\n
However, given its contribution to the state budget, the
\ngovernment has never considered the RDI to be an off-budget fund
\nsource.<\/p>\n
For this year, some Rp 7 trillion from the account has been
\nearmarked to help finance the 2003 state budget.<\/p>",
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