RI seeks to reschedule around $5.5b debt

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Finance Minister Boediono said that the government was seeking to reschedule some US$5.5 billion in sovereign debt maturing this year and next from the Paris Club of creditor nations.

"The amount is around $5.5 billion -- and I'm very optimistic," he was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday.

Boediono has just been returned from a week-long overseas trip to lobby creditor nations to grant Indonesia with a debt rescheduling facility to help ease pressure on the state budget.

The government, which is scheduled to convene with the Paris Club members from April 8 to April 11, is not only seeking for the rescheduling of debt principal, but also interest rate.

For this year alone, some Rp 27 trillion (about $2.7 billion) in principal and interest will have to be rescheduled to help maintain the 2002 state budget deficit at a safe level of around 2.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Indonesia has around $140 million in overseas debts, of which around half is government debt.

On Monday, the House of Representatives approved the country's first anti-money laundering bill into law, which has been a requirement demanded by creditor nations.

Boediono's overseas trip included a visit to Washington, which has been putting a strong pressure on the Indonesian government to do more in the U.S.-led war against terrorism.

Central bank officials have said that if Indonesia wants to obtain a favorable debt rescheduling facility from the Paris Club, the government must prove to the U.S. government, an influential creditor at the Paris Club, that it is serious about combating terrorism.

There have been accusations that religious militant groups, linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., have been at large and operating in Indonesia.