U.S. to resume support for loans to Indonesia: Albright
U.S. to resume support for loans to Indonesia: Albright
WASHINGTON (Reuters): United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright announced Wednesday that Washington would resume support for international lending to Indonesia.
"We will support proposals for new World Bank and Asian Development Bank lending to Indonesia," she said in a speech to the Asia Society in New York.
The United States withheld support for international lending to Indonesia as political and economic turmoil engulfed the country in May and led to the resignation of president Soeharto and his replacement by current President B.J. Habibie.
An International Monetary Fund team is now in Jakarta to finalize the country's new budget and "we hope that an agreement can be reached soon that will release the next tranche of funds", Albright said.
The IMF was due to disburse a further balance of payments loan of about US$1 billion early this month. But it was sidetracked by the upheaval over Soeharto.
Albright said it was too early to know if Habibie's new government would pursue and succeed in making political reforms based on democratic principles.
"But it is not too early to reaffirm America's commitment to do all we can to help the Indonesian people. This is the right thing. It is also the smart thing because prospects for a stable transition to democracy will increase if humanitarian needs are addressed," she said.
As a result, in addition to backing international lending, the United States will pledge $65 million in food and medical supplies for Indonesia as a supplement to U.S. assistance programs already underway, she said.
"We are considering how best to use our support in the months ahead in areas such as civic education, development of a free press, the promotion of ethnic tolerance and technical assistance for elections," she said.
Also, the full complement of American personnel in the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta has been restored, she said.
Staff were withdrawn when the political turmoil and violence erupted.
She praised Habibie for assembling a strong economic team and said he had also taken steps to address the longstanding problem of East Timor.
"The United States would strongly support efforts by the new government to build a real consensus on East Timor through additional confidence-building measures, a reduced military presence and a genuine dialog with its people," she added.