Exim Bank to honor loan commitments

JP/bay

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the U.S. Export-Import Bank said yesterday that the bank would support all $4.4 billion worth of loans in Indonesia now under consideration.

"Our current exposure is about $3.8 billion and we have in the pipeline $4.4 billion. We intend to honor and support all our current activities here and to look for opportunities to be supported in the future," James Harmon (photo above) told a news conference.

Harmon said 1998 would be a difficult year but he expected growth to return.

"We have not yet suffered any losses in Indonesia and our losses in all of Asia have been no different than in previous periods of time," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

He added it was too early to count any losses from the current turmoil.

Indonesia is going through its worst financial crisis in decades.

Harmon, who met Indonesian President Soeharto on Thursday, said now was a good time for the bank to invest as there would be less competition for financing and this would mean the quality of the projects available would be better.

"I would hope we would increase our share of the market as a result of the conditions in Asia," he said. Exim bank is an independent government agency that finances U.S. exports for agricultural, industrial and infrastructural development.