Australia provides A$26m to RI

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The governments of Indonesia and Australia signed an agreement on Tuesday on Australia's A$26 million assistance program for five years to support Indonesia's economic reform program.

The agreement was signed by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Australian Ambassador David Ritchie during the annual pre-bilateral discussion of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI).

"This new program from Australia is a welcome initiative to support the implementation of the Indonesian government's White Paper on economic reform," Dorodjatun said in a statement.

Released in September, the White Paper outlines a range of actions to maintain the momentum of economic recovery following the country's graduation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic program at the end of this year.

The assistance will be delivered through the third phase of the Australia-Indonesia Technical Assistance Management Facility (TAMF), which will commence on Jan. 19, 2004.

The TAMF will focus on supporting the Indonesian government in three key areas: achieving fiscal sustainability, protecting the government's financial position and improving the strength and integrity of the financial system.

Elsewhere, Ritchie said that since the first phase of the TAMF began back in 1999, Australia had supported key elements of the Indonesian government's economic reform program, which included tax administration reforms, financial sector oversight and the development of an effective antimoney-laundering regime.

"During that period Indonesia has made significant progress in restoring macroeconomic stability, which has enabled it to graduate from five years of exceptional IMF financing," said Ritchie.