Public donates 194 kg gold

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Finance has collected 194,993.81 grams of gold through fund-raising to help the country overcome the monetary crisis, a ministry spokesman said yesterday.

Agus Haryanto, the spokesman, said that besides gold, Rp 5.9 billion and US$418,233.75 had also been collected in the fund- raising, which began Jan. 20.

"The total amount of donations is calculated on the latest figures acquired as of Wednesday. We have asked all state-owned pawn shops (Pegadaian) to help collect donations," Agus said.

Those intending to donate can do so through the Ministry of Finance's account at Bank Indonesia. For rupiah donations, the account number is 519.000104, while for U.S. dollars the account is 699.411004. For gold donations, it can be transferred to a special ministry account.

"We thank all the people who have made donations. The Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the government, thanks you all," he said. (edt)