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.