World Bank grants Indonesia loans to support antigraft drive
World Bank grants Indonesia loans to support antigraft drive
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The World Bank granted the government US$360 million in loans on
Wednesday, part of which has been allocated specifically for the
government's war against corruption.
In total, some $60 million will be set aside for financial and
technical support to help the government improve its efficiency
and transparency, the bank's country director Andrew Steer said.
"These reforms, while seemingly technical, represent a broad
attack on the very roots of corruption in Indonesia," Steer said
in a statement.
The rest of the loans will go to help support other reform
programs the government is embarking upon, including retaining
macroeconomic stability, said the statement.
"Indonesia is entering a new stage of reform where the focus
has shifted from economic stabilization to long-term growth and
poverty reduction," it added.
Steer was referring to the country's good record in achieving
and retaining macroeconomic stability, as evident by, among
others things, the declining trend of debt-to-gross domestic
product (GDP) ratio to around 70 percent this year as compared to
130 percent in 2000.
Widespread corruption -- which has created inefficiency and a
high-cost economy, thus eroding the country's economic
competitiveness -- is seen as among the hardest challenges that
the government has to address if it wants to generate higher
economic growth.
Various surveys have confirmed that the ill-practice, mostly
in state institutions and state enterprises, has become endemic,
putting Indonesia among the world's most corrupt nations.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has repeatedly promised to
prioritize the graft-eradication program during his tenure, to
make the economy more competitive and, at the same time, avoid
further state losses.
The loans, the bank said, were at significantly lower interest
rates and carry longer maturity profiles than private loans.
The World Bank is one of the country's main lenders, and is
currently grouped under the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI)
-- a grouping of Indonesia's major donors.