Australia-RI loan talks

Australia-RI loan talks

ADELAIDE (Reuters): Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Wednesday that the government was in talks with Indonesia about the release of the first part of its US$1 billion assistance package.

"We have to negotiate the terms, we expect they can be concluded in the near future and whilst the Indonesian government continues to implement economic reform we will make the moneys available," Costello told reporters.

"The first amount has been forwarded by the IMF and we are having negotiations with Indonesia on the terms and conditions on which we would advance the first part of our assistance."

Australia pledged to provide US$1 billion to Indonesia, its closest Asian neighbor, as part of the International Monetary Fund's US$40 billion-plus bailout package which was linked to an economic reform program that had been revised a number of times.