WB promises more support in fight against poverty<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The World Bank will intensify its support for the government's
\neffort to fight poverty by providing more loans for cities and
\nregencies in the future, the Bank's representative said.<\/p>\n
World Bank Country Director for Indonesia Andrew Steer said
\nthat for the past couple of years, the Bank had only been able to
\nprovide a little money to fund poverty reduction, citing an
\nunclear policy on regional autonomy as the main reason.<\/p>\n
\"We had done little in the past couple of years because it was
\nhard to do things with the decentralization of authority until it
\nbecame clear now,\" Steer said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a
\nseminar.<\/p>\n
\"Next year, we want to do more. It is a very exciting time for
\nus. There are huge opportunities to help the poor and huge
\nneeds,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Steer stressed that the Bank's commitment to alleviate poverty
\nin Indonesia would remain strong even though the government might
\nno longer extend the current economic reform program with the
\nInternational Monetary Fund later this year.<\/p>\n
\"We have a lot going on, and (it's got) nothing to do with the
\nIMF,\" Steer said.<\/p>\n
He said in the next two months, the Bank was going to approve
\nnew major loans, including US$140 million for a power project,
\n$220 million for a poverty reduction project, $70 million for a
\nhealth project and $60 million for a water supply project.<\/p>\n
Steer did not reveal how many loans the Bank would disburse to
\nthe government this year or how much it would increase them next
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Poverty has declined significantly from 26.9 percent in 1999
\nto 16 percent in 2002. The Bank initially predicted it would
\nreduce poverty to 15 percent this year.<\/p>\n
International funding agencies have encouraged the government
\nto shift gears to attain higher growth of more than 6 percent as
\nthe current level of below 4 percent was not enough to provide
\njobs.<\/p>\n
From July 1996 to February 2003, the World Bank disbursed
\n$2.04 billion in loans for various projects, technical assistance
\nand programs dealing with the environment, education, poverty
\nreduction and the power sector.<\/p>\n
With increasing financial and technical aid to fight poverty,
\nSteer said, the Bank would screen more than 100 of the 400 cities
\nand regencies in the country to receive World Bank loans.<\/p>\n
The 100 cities and regencies eligible for receiving the Bank's
\nloans will be assessed by their performance in conducting good
\ngovernance.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Steer applauded the government for its good
\nperformance in maintaining macroeconomic stability.<\/p>\n
Steer said Indonesia could be out of IMF tutelage, providing
\nit continued the current macroeconomic program.<\/p>\n
After the IMF, Steer suggested that the government needed to
\nfocus on having a good program to revive the investment climate.<\/p>",
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