IMF may disburse $400m loan to RI soon<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Bloomberg): Indonesia has made \"a lot of progress\"
\ntoward meeting International Monetary Fund conditions, making it
\nlikely the country will get a US$400 million loan disbursement in
\nMay, a fund official said.<\/p>\n
The IMF plans to send a staff mission to Jakarta later this
\nmonth to determine whether it can recommend to its executive
\nboard release of the disbursement, said Anoop Singh, the IMF's
\nAsia and Pacific department's deputy director.<\/p>\n
\"The message at this point is fairly upbeat,\" Singh said.<\/p>\n
IMF expects to make about $2 billion in loan payments to
\nIndonesia this year, Singh told reporters in Washington. That's
\nonly slightly less money than what was expected to be disbursed
\nbefore the IMF held up this $400 million disbursement April 4
\nbecause of fund concerns about the pace of Indonesian economic
\nreforms, he said.<\/p>\n
Singh's comments indicate that recent policy developments in
\nIndonesia are swaying IMF officials in favor of maintaining
\nsupport.<\/p>\n
\"We have been greatly reassured by the steps they have taken
\nin the last three weeks,\" Singh said.<\/p>\n
Most recently, Laksamana Sukardi, the newly appointed head of
\nthe Jakarta Initiative Task Force, said yesterday that the
\ngovernment is willing to waive withholding taxes for two or three
\nyears on revamped loans to the more than 300 companies registered
\nwith the restructuring body.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian investment minister announced new incentives
\nto speed up the restructuring of more than $70 billion in bad
\ndebt to lure foreign investors back to the nation.<\/p>\n
Just one week ago, however, Indonesian Finance Minister
\nBambang Sudibyo accused the International Monetary Fund and the
\nWorld Bank of excessive interference in the economy.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is recovering from its worst recession in decades
\nwith the help of a more than $50 billion bailout led by the IMF,
\nyet Bambang said the Washington-based lending agencies are trying
\nto micromanage the country's revival. The IMF approved in
\nFebruary a $5 billion, three-year loan for Indonesia to bolster
\nthe economy's revival.<\/p>\n
\"The World Bank and the IMF are too interventionist,\"
\nBambang said to reporters.<\/p>\n
The IMF and World Bank have gone so far as to oversee the
\ngovernment's negotiation of performance contracts with executives
\nat state-run PT Bank Negara Indonesia, scheduled to receive $3.9
\nbillion in support from the government, Sudibyo said. The
\ncontracts -- which lay out operational targets -- are a condition
\nto receiving state support.<\/p>\n
Yet Singh said the postponed disbursement shouldn't draw
\nattention.<\/p>\n
\"A month's delay in the disbursement is not material,\" he
\nsaid. \"This is not an emergency.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia's economy, which contracted by 13 percent in 1998,
\nand 0.2 percent in 1999, may grow up to 4 percent this year,
\nSingh said.<\/p>\n
Yet it won't recover from its recent recession until 2003,
\nsaid Reza Moghadam, the IMF's division chief for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Singh also defended the IMF criticism of it policies, made by
\nmany of those who are planning mass protests and acts of civil
\ndisobedience during the IMF and World Bank's meetings on Sunday
\nand Monday. Many of the fund's critics, including former World
\nBank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz, say that following IMF-
\nbacked policies helped cause and deepened the recession in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"In our view (the recession) ended sooner because of the
\nprogram\" with the IMF, Singh said. \"The country officials that
\nhave brought this about are fully aware of this.\"<\/p>\n
Singh was speaking one day after a group of 17 sovereign
\nlenders, including the Group of Seven industrialized nations,
\naccepted the delayed repayment of $5.8 billion of Indonesia's
\ndebt owed between this year and the end of first-quarter 2002.<\/p>\n
Known as the Paris Club, the group of creditors said this debt
\nwill be repaid in the medium and long term, without giving
\nfurther details. The debt rescheduling concerns repayment of the
\nprincipal, $2.2 billion of which was due this year, $2.9 billion
\nin 2001, and $700 million in the first quarter of 2002.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/imf-may-disburse-400m-loan-to-ri-soon-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}