IFC's RI debtors in trouble

IFC's RI debtors in trouble

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg): Sixty percent of the 42 companies in Indonesia that have borrowed money from the International Finance Corp, the World Bank's private lending arm, are in financial difficulty, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported Friday, quoting executives of the Washington-based lender.

Of the 20 percent of IFC's Indonesian borrowers that are experiencing serious difficulties, there is a ``high likelihood'' that the IFC will never be repaid, said Rashad Kaldany, director of IFC's South Asia and Southeast Asia department.

The IFC's total portfolio in Indonesia amounts to $1 billion of equity investments and loans, including about $500 million lent by commercial banks under the IFC's name.

The IFC's fiscal 1998 profit fell to $246 million from $432 million a year earlier as the lender increased its provisions for losses from loans to troubled emerging markets.