[Kabar-indonesia] RI will prepay US$3.8b of IMF debt by next week [2 reports]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

also: Indonesia to repay half of IMF loans in 5 working days

Indonesia will prepay US$3.8b of IMF debt by next week 

JAKARTA, June 21 (Bloomberg): Indonesia said it will prepay about US$3.8 
billion, or half the amount it owes the International Monetary Fund by next 
week, 
to cut interest costs.

"Indonesia will pay off half its debt to the IMF within the next five days," 
Burhanuddin Abdullah, governor of Bank Indonesia, the nation's central bank, 
told reporters in Jakarta Wednesday. "We have sent a letter of 
notification."Making the payment four years before the due date will help Indonesia, Southeast 
Asia's largest economy, cut interest costs. 

The International Monetary Fund offered a $25 billion package, between 1997 
and 2003, to rescue Indonesia's banking system and rehabilitate the economy by 
reorganizing private and state debt.

"This discussion has been going on for some time and we have been expecting 
something like this every day but no, we haven't got any letter yet," said 
Steven Schwartz, the International Monetary Fund's country representative, said by 
telephone Wednesday in a response to the statement made by the 
Indonesianofficial.

Indonesia has $7.51 billion International Monetary Fund debt outstanding as 
of the end of May this year, Abdullah said.

Indonesia will pay the balance to the International Monetary Fund in November 
or December this year, Abdullah said on June 4.

Indonesia's foreign-exchange reserves rose to a record $44.17 billion as of 
the end May 2006 from $42.8 billion at the end of April, according to data from 
Bank Indonesia. 

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Indonesia to repay half of IMF loans in 5 working days

JAKARTA, June 21 (Reuters) - Indonesia will repay half of the 
US$7.8 billion it owes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within five
working days, the country's central bank governor said on Wednesday.

Jakarta has already announced plans to repay the other half of the
loans to the IMF, a legacy of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998,
this year instead of next year as previously planned. The loans are
due by 2010.

"Today we will send a note to the IMF and we need five (working) days
to pay that," Burhanuddin Abdullah told reporters.

Government officials say the country's growing foreign international
reserves have made it possible for Jakarta to repay the loans ahead of
schedule, a move aimed at saving interest costs for Southeast Asia's
biggest economy.

IMF's senior resident representative in Indonesia, Stephen Schwartz,
has said the Fund welcomes Indonesia's move to repay the loans ahead
of schedule.

He said it reflected the country's improved balance of payments
situation and a strengthening of its economy.

Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves stood at a record high of $44.17
billion in May, up almost 30 percent so far this year.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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