Indonesia gets higher U.S. farm credit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The United States Department of Agriculture
\n(USDA) said that it had increased export credit for Indonesia to
\nbuy farm products from the country by US$100 million to total
\n$750 million for the 2001 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
The terms of the credit, which is better known as the
\nCommodity Credit Corporation's Export Credit Guarantee Program
\n(GSM-102) has also been extended from two years to three years,
\nthe department said in a statement made available to The Jakarta
\nPost on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"Any bank approved by the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)
\nin Indonesia is eligible. Exporters are advised to obtain from
\ntheir foreign buyer the name of the CCC-approved foreign bank
\nthat will be opening the letter of credit,\" the department said.<\/p>\n
When asked for further clarification, the agriculture
\ncounselor at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta Kent Sisson told The
\nPost that the additional $100 million had been provided because
\nthe initial credit allocation of $650 million had been used up as
\nof early June.<\/p>\n
Kent said that the additional credit was available until the
\nend of the U.S. government's fiscal year on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
The U.S. government launched the GSM-102 program in 1998 to
\nenable the crisis-hit Asian countries, including Indonesia, to
\nkeep importing farm products from the country despite the crisis,
\nwhich made it difficult for them to secure credit from local
\nbanks.<\/p>\n
Food and agriculture commodities imported by Indonesia from
\nthe U.S. include soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton and soybean meal.<\/p>\n
The USDA data was quoted by Reuters as saying that Indonesia
\nhad used some $294.3 million of the $650 million total credit to
\nimport oilseed, some $179.20 million for protein meals, $89.30
\nmillion for wheat and wheat flour and $52.20 million for grain
\nused as feed.<\/p>\n
According to Kent, Indonesia was the world's largest user of
\nthe GSM-102 credit program.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian importers have been very active in using this
\nprogram to import raw materials for food, agriculture and textile
\nindustries,\" he said. (11)<\/p>",
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