IFC provides $24m loan to Astra

IFC provides $24m loan to Astra

JAKARTA: International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, signed an agreement on Monday to provide a US$24-million loan to PT Astra Otoparts to fund product and operational development.

"The loan will support the development of a local Indonesian company and help it remain competitive in an increasingly open global marketplace," said Dimitris Tsitsiragos, director of IFC's Global Manufacturing and Services Department.

Astra Otoparts, a unit of PT Astra International, can draw down the loan either in dollars or rupiah.

The company has 28 partly- and wholly-owned affiliates and subsidiaries that manufacture and distribute automotive components.-- Dow Jones