Fischer due in Jakarta for Indonesia-IMF talks
Fischer due in Jakarta for Indonesia-IMF talks
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones): Stanley Fischer, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, will arrive Thursday in Jakarta for meetings to review what could be the final details of a reinvigorated economic program, an IMF official said Tuesday.
The official, speaking Tuesday to Dow Jones Newswires on condition of anonymity, said that Fischer is scheduled to depart late Tuesday for the Indonesian capital where he expects to meet with President Soeharto's new economic team.
Fischer is also expected to review ongoing efforts to restructure more than US$60 billion in short-term external private-sector debts.
But the IMF's role in the debt workout effort, IMF and World Bank officials have said, is focused around keeping tabs on potential costs to the Indonesian government and doesn't involve any official IMF money flowing into any scheme.
Besides fleshing out basic understandings over how Indonesia will handle its private sector debt troubles, the next big step in IMF-Indonesia relations will be the signing of a letter of intent fleshing out economic goals for the months ahead.
Without a fresh letter of commitment, the IMF won't be in a position to release a delayed $3 billion outlay from an existing $10.1 billion standby credit arrangement with Indonesia.
After the letter is signed, it is expected that the IMF executive board wouldn't take up the outlay issue for two weeks.
However, it isn't yet clear if the letter of intent will be signed later this week when Fischer arrives in Jakarta, although IMF officials generally are signaling positive movement in dealings with the Soeharto government.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin declined to predict how the current talks between the IMF and Indonesia could turn out, saying the negotiations are ongoing.
However, the Rubin noted that David Lipton, a Treasury undersecretary, apparently made progress in talks he held with Indonesian officials recently.
"David Lipton, our undersecretary, did go to Indonesia. The Indonesians have told me in several conversations that it was an extremely constructive trip. He helped work through with them an outline, or a framework, if you will, for thinking through the discussions with respect to reform in Indonesia," Rubin said.
Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday he expected an announcement soon on a delayed $3 billion payment to Indonesia under an International Monetary Fund-led assistance package.
"It's pleasing to see there are positive signals now emerging that Indonesia and the IMF are working constructively together and we would expect an announcement soon," Downer told the Australian Parliament, referring to the delayed second payment under the IMF package.