Govt asks ADB, World Bank for help to rebuild infrastructure
Govt asks ADB, World Bank for help to rebuild infrastructure
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The government will ask the Asian Development Bank and World
Bank for their financial support to help rebuild infrastructure
in Aceh, severely-damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami.
Minister of Finance Jusuf Anwar said on Tuesday that it would
soon ask the two international donor agencies to start disbursing
US$3 billion in combined undisbursed loan commitments for that
purpose.
"The government is going to try and persuade the ADB and the
World Bank to switch unproductive and undisbursed loans as
emergency assistance for Aceh.
"We would allocate some of the loan funds to rebuild
infrastructure in the province," Jusuf told reporters.
Jusuf added that at present, undisbursed loans from the World
Bank and ADB stood at $1 billion and $2 billion respectively. The
two multilateral agencies have been the country's main donors.
The government has already allocated Rp 50 billion, taken from
the 2004 state budget, for emergency assistance to victims in the
tragedy-hit areas.
Aceh and North Sumatra provinces were the hardest hit by the
powerful earthquake, and by towering waves of tsunami that on
Sunday swept through villages and towns in the two provinces,
leaving thousands killed and countless homeless.
The tragedy -- the worst in decades -- has also left
infrastructure destroyed, including road networks, seaports,
buildings, and power plants.
While the financial requirements to rebuild infrastructure has
yet to be determined, it is obvious that the government will need
outside help to do such extensive work, in view of the huge
constraints it already faces in its state budget.
The government is already struggling to keep the deficit below
Rp 26.3 trillion, as targeted in the state budget for this year,
with soaring oil prices pushing up significantly allocations for
fuel subsidies.
In fact, the government plans to gradually reduce subsidies
starting next year as a way of easing pressure on the annual
state budget.
Elsewhere, when asked about the impact of the disaster on the
overall economy, Jusuf said,"I think the impact will be
relatively limited. What's important is that we try our best so
that Aceh can recover quickly."