IMF to send mission Thursday: Minister

IMF to send mission Thursday: Minister

JAKARTA (Dow Jones): The International Monetary Fund will send a team to Indonesia Thursday for a review of the economy which could pave the way for the restarting of the fund's lending program, said the country's top economics minister Monday.

"The IMF review team is expected to come on Thursday," Senior Economics Minister Burhanuddin Abdullah told reporters.

The Washington-based fund has held up its US$5 billion program for Indonesia since December, after Indonesia missed a number of key reform commitments.

But Indonesia has since made some progress toward meeting its commitments to the IMF, including putting a large nationalized bank up for sale this week and revising the state budget to keep the deficit in check.

The fund's mission this week will review progress toward the commitments and set out new targets before unlocking the next $400 million tranche of loans under its lending program.

Indonesia needs IMF loans to help its external balances, but also to help revive foreign investor confidence in the country.