ADB readies $855m loans for RI

ADB readies $855m loans for RI

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Tuesday it planned to
approve US$855 million in project-related loans for Indonesia,
and expected to disburse another $350 million by late May.

The ADB also said it was offering $18.3 million in grants tied
to 28 technical assistance programs, five of which already had
been approved.

The bank's principal program officer here, Shiladitya
Chatterjee, said the $855 million in loans were pending approval
by the ADB board, and would be used to finance nine projects.

He gave no time frame on the release of the loans, but said it
could stretch over a period of more than two years.

The loans would fund projects related to coral reef
rehabilitation and management; improving the welfare of farmers;
non-bank financial governance programs; small and medium
enterprise export development; outer-island electrification;
urban poverty reduction; water supply and sanitation; improving
local governments' capacity for decentralization; and the
participatory irrigation sector.

The technical assistance programs planned for this year
include programs to support decentralization, good governance and
anticorruption campaigns, poverty reduction and gender equity.

ADB director for Indonesia, Jan PM van Heeswijk, said another
$350 million could be disbursed as soon as late May, once the ADB
board gave its approval.

He said the $350 million was part of the financial aid offered
in 1998 to shore up Indonesia's balance of payment, which was hit
by mass capital outflow at the height of the 1997 financial
crisis.

ADB has been withholding the loans since Indonesia fell short
of meeting certain conditions, one of which was the passage of an
antimoney laundering law, he said.

"ADB is reviewing the content of the law to see if it complies
with international principles; if so we will inform the board,"
he said.

Indonesia also is expecting the release of approximately $400
million from the International Monetary Fund, pending the
approval of its board.