Indonesian loan delay won't affect 1999 schedule: IMF

Indonesian loan delay won't affect 1999 schedule: IMF

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones): The International Monetary Fund said
on Tuesday a delay in its disbursement of funds to Indonesia
won't disrupt its schedule of loan payments to this country in
1999.

An IMF official said in a telephone interview that there will
be a delay "of maybe a few weeks" in the payment of $960 million
that was originally due Nov. 25.

He said the IMF board will convene in mid-December to consider
both this loan and another payment of between $450 million-$500
million to South Korea.

A report carried by Indonesia's daily Jakarta Post Tuesday
quoted

Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance Ginandjar
Kartasasmita said earlier that IMF board meeting would be held
Dec. 12.

An IMF mission to Indonesia returned to Washington Nov. 16,
with final deliberations on the Indonesian loan delayed by other
events that demanded the attention of Hubert Neiss, the IMF's
Asia-Pacific director.

The IMF also delayed October's disbursement of $960 million to
Indonesia by more than a week, citing administrative glitches.

November's disbursement was to be the final payment to
Indonesia by the IMF this year, with the next loan installment -
for a similar amount - due Feb. 15, 1999. Subsequent payments of
around $240 million each are expected on the 15th of May, August
and November 1999.

These payments are part of an $11.70 billion IMF loan facility
that forms a key plank in a $42.00-billion international bailout
of the country in the wake of a severe deterioration in the
Indonesian rupiah this year.