S'pore RI exposure declines

S'pore RI exposure declines

SINGAPORE (Reuters): United Overseas Bank has cut its $999 million Singapore dollars loan exposure to Indonesia as of the end of 1997 by about one third, a bank spokeswoman said on Saturday.

She said the bank's net exposure to Indonesia was S$660 million as of April 30, 1998, of which S$240 million involved Indonesian banks.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in parliament on Monday that Singapore's six major banks' exposure to Indonesia had fallen to S$3.9 billion, 28 percent lower than in December.

A spokeswoman for OCBC Bank said the bank's S$1.2 billion exposure to Indonesia had been reduced.

"It's definitely been reduced but I can't give any details," she told Reuters.

A Keppel Bank spokeswoman would only say the bank's S$166 million exposure to Indonesia, as of end-February, had not changed significantly.

Tat Lee Bank said exposure at end-February was about S$457 million