RI concerned about cut in Japanese aid

RI concerned about cut in Japanese aid

TOKYO (AFP): Indonesia yesterday expressed concern about a Japanese plan to slash its foreign aid due to tight budget conditions, Japanese foreign ministry officials said.

Ginandjar Kartasasmita, Indonesia's state minister for national development planning and chairman of the National Development Planning Board, showed the concern during a meeting with Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda in Tokyo, the ministry officials said.

The Indonesian minister was quoted by the officials as telling Ikeda: "I understand the situation, but demand for development funds is big."

Ikeda said Japan was considering making more use of private funds in helping development in Indonesia to compensate for a planned cut in official development assistance (ODA).

Last week, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Japan's ODA would be slashed by as much as 10 percent next year, marking the first decline in two decades.

The Japanese government has allocated 1.17 trillion yen (US$10 billion) to its ODA budget for the current 12-month period ending in March next year, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

Indonesia and China are the biggest recipients of Japanese aid.