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)