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)