Australia to roll over debt

Australia to roll over debt

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Australia plans to reschedule its US$1.4
billion loan to the Indonesian government in a bid to help
Jakarta cope with its crippling economic crisis, an Australian
official has said.

John Dauth, the deputy secretary of Australia's foreign
affairs and trade department, said his government understood
Indonesia's difficulties and that Canberra had drafted a plan to
roll over its loan to help ease its neighbor's financial
problems.

"We are ready to reschedule Indonesia's sovereign debt," he
told journalists here over the weekend, adding that Australia was
negotiating a debt rescheduling plan with other Indonesian
donors, especially those grouped in the Paris Club.

The Paris Club is an ad hoc forum of Western creditors which
handles debt renegotiations.

Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry
Ginandjar Kartasasmita met with Paris Club president Francis
Mayer in Paris recently to discuss the debt rescheduling plan.

Ginandjar said members of the Paris Club would meet next month
to discuss the debt rollover plan.

According to Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto, most
government creditors initially agreed to reschedule the majority
of Indonesia's sovereign debt due this fiscal year.

He said the sovereign debt due for installment this fiscal
year totaled $2.25 billion. (23)