Bakrie financing secured

JAKARTA (JP): Bakrie & Brothers says the one-month delay in the processing of letters of credit for imports by its telecommunications subsidiary, PT Radio Telephone Indonesia (Ratelindo), was only technical in nature and by no means related to financing resources.

"Neither does the delay affect the completion schedule of Ratelindo's cellular digital radio telephone project," Bakrie's Chief Executive Officer Tanri Abeng said yesterday.

He was responding to points published in The Jakarta Post's front-page story entitled Fixed-cellular phone project postponed.

Tanri added that the US$50 million loan syndication by domestic banks for the project was oversubscribed so that the offers from several foreign banks to participate in the syndication had to be turned down.

"Moreover, Bakrie & Brothers, as the holding company, has $75 million in cash reserves which it could have draw upon immediately had the loan syndication been under-subscribed," Tanri said. (icn)