Telkom secures $325m loan

Telkom secures $325m loan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), the state- owned company for domestic telecommunication services, has secured a US$325 million soft loan from the World Bank, an executive said.

Antara reported yesterday that Telkom's president, Setyanto P. Santoso, said the 20-year loan was given with an annual interest rate equal to "the rate of the World Bank's loans for the Indonesian government."

Available records state that the average interest rate on World Bank loans to the Indonesian government is about six percent per annum.

Setyanto did not say when the World Bank actually extended the loan to Telkom.

The government plans to float Telkom's shares on the capital market here, as well as the London and New York stock exchanges by the end of this year.

Setyanto said the World Bank loan will be allocated for the financing of several infrastructure projects, particularly those on telecommunication networks.

One example of such projects, he said, is the Jakarta-Surabaya fiber optic project, conducted in cooperation with the French- owned Alcatel. (hdj)