Govt speeds up repayment of high-interest debts<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government will use the US$799 million in
\nfunds raised from the recent sales of its shares in Indosat
\nthrough the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to speed up the
\nrepayment of its high-interest loans from the World Bank and the
\nAsian Development Bank, a minister says.<\/p>\n
"The early repayment is intended to reduce the burden of the
\nstate budget since most of the loans from the World Bank (WB) and
\nthe Asian Development Bank (ADB) carry fixed interest rates of
\nabove 11 percent per annum," Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad
\ntold the Budgetary Commission of the House of Representatives
\nhere yesterday, the last day of their four-day hearing.<\/p>\n
The minister explained that early repayment is focused on some
\nof the high-interest loans extended by the WB and ADB in the
\nperiod between 1981 and 1983.<\/p>\n
The minister said that $426.05 million of the total funds from
\nthe sales of Indosat shares are for early repayment of high-
\ninterest loans from the WB and the remaining $365 million for
\nsome of the Manila-based ADB's loans.<\/p>\n
Indosat, the provider of international telecommunication
\nservices, raised US$799 million from the sales of 25 percent of
\nits ordinary shares through the NYSE in October and around Rp 650
\nbillion ($297 million) from the sales of another 10 percent of
\nits shares on the local capital market.<\/p>\n
The shares sold through the NYSE were mainly government shares
\nwhile those sold at home mostly consisted of new shares.<\/p>\n
Mar'ie said that proceeds from the sale of the new shares will
\nbe used to strengthen Indosat's telecommunication facilities.<\/p>\n
The government's outstanding debts fell by almost $3 billion
\nto $56.6 billion as of the end of September from $59.46 billion
\nat the end of June.<\/p>\n
The government's outstanding borrowing as of the end of
\nSeptember constituted $26.02 billion from Japan, $10.14 billion
\nfrom the WB, $4.36 billion from ADB, $3.11 billion from the
\nUnited States, $2.22 billion from France, $1.43 billion from the
\nNetherlands and $9.35 billion from other creditors. (hen)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-speeds-up-repayment-of-high-interest-debts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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