Govt seek ways to ease debt burden<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Finance Boediono said on Wednesday the government
\nwould seek ways to help ease the burden of the 2004 state budget
\nin repaying government debts, including foreign ones.<\/p>\n
"Every effort to reduce the debt burden will be made," he was
\nquoted by Antara as saying, but quickly added that any measures
\ntaken, particularly in relation to foreign debts, must be
\nacceptable to international creditors.<\/p>\n
The minister said that if creditor nations offered schemes to
\nreduce the debt burden, the government would consider the options
\nafter studying them carefully.<\/p>\n
He did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Finance and the House of Representatives state
\nbudget committee are currently deliberating the government
\nproposed 2004 state budget. The budget talks were supposed to
\nhave been completed last week, but legislators decided to extend
\nthem considering the fact that the two sides have yet to agree on
\na number of issues, including the amount allocated for debt
\nrepayments as it was deemed too high. The House is set to resume
\nthe talks with the Ministry of Finance immediately.<\/p>\n
Under the proposed budget, some Rp 113.3 trillion, or around
\n27 percent of the total budget, will be allocated to repay
\ndomestic and foreign debts. However, such a huge amount limits
\nthe funds allocated for development programs.<\/p>\n
Some legislators have said that the government should seek
\nways to reduce the repayment of foreign debts.<\/p>\n
The country next year will no longer be eligible for the debt
\nrescheduling facility provided by the Paris Club of creditor
\nnations as the current International Monetary Fund economic
\nreform program will end later this year. The country has enjoyed
\nsome $3 billion worth of debt rescheduling facilities from the
\nclub over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports said that the Paris Club had offered its Avian
\nApproach for Non-Highly Indebted Poor Countries (Non-HIPC), a
\ncategory in which Indonesia is included, to reduce its foreign
\ndebt burden. Debt forgiveness is normally given to the HIPC
\ndebtor category.<\/p>\n
"We'll study this possibility too," Boediono said.<\/p>\n
Several analysts, however, have said that without the active
\npresence of the IMF, the country would not be able to benefit
\nfrom the Avian approach, a system under which an eligible debtor
\ncountry can seek bilateral talks with individual creditors to
\nnegotiate a debt relief facility.<\/p>\n
In addition to the foreign debts, the government also has a
\nhuge domestic debt, resulting from the cost of bailing out banks
\nin the wake of the late 1990s financial crisis. Among of the
\nmeasures taken by the government so far are issuing new bonds to
\nrefinance maturing debts and selling assets.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-seek-ways-to-ease-debt-burden-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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