Investment realization this year down: Minister

Investment realization this year down: Minister

JAKARTA (JP): The realization of investment approvals in the
country will be lower than the initial target due to the currency
crisis, State Minister of Investment Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo said
yesterday.

Sanyoto said investors, especially from overseas, were still
enthusiastic about investing in the country's industrial sector,
judging from the inflow of investment applications, but many of
the investment commitments had not been realized.

"The applications still come in, but the realization is harder
now," Sanyoto was quoted by Antara as saying.

He did not disclose a figure on the amount of foreign
investment commitments to be realized.

"It is hard to predict how much will be realized," he said
before the meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Speculative attacks on the rupiah has caused it to drop over
25 percent against the U.S. dollar since early July.

A series of government measures have been enforced to
stabilize the falling rupiah, including the rise in the interest
rates of Bank Indonesia's short-term SBIs. This has caused
deposit and lending rates to skyrocket.

The government last month decided to either delay or review
projects worth about US$38 billion until the monetary situation
returned to normal.

Sanyoto said foreign investors still showed interest in
Indonesia during the recent promotion activities conducted by the
Ministry of Investment in Europe.

He said a conducive investment climate in the country still
prompted European businesses to invest here.

Earlier this year, Sanyoto announced a 36 percent drop in
foreign investment approvals in this year's first five months,
due to the general election.

Foreign investment approvals in the January to May period of
this year totaled $14.4 billion. (das)