---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ and click banner our sponsor ---------------------------------------------------------- World Bank postpones one billion dollar loan to Indonesia (ADDS bank official's comment) JAKARTA, Dec 18 (AFP) - The World Bank has decided to delay a planned one billion dollar loan to Indonesia until after elections in June 1999, bank officials said Friday. The Jakarta Post quoted the bank's country director for Indonesia, Dennis de Tray, as saying the decision had been taken because the budget deficit in fiscal 1998-99 was narrowing faster than anticipated. The deficit for the fiscal year ending March 1999 was expected to be around six percent of gross domestic product instead of 8.3 percent as earlier forcast, he said. A Jakarta-based external affairs officer for the bank confirmed to AFP the decision not to disburse the one billion in budgetary support. With the firming of the rupiah the "budgetary gap does not look as bad" as it did in July when the the additional one billion dollars on top of an original two billion in funds was pledged, the officer said. "At that time it looked as if the budget deficit was going to be between 12 and 14 billion dollars, and the additional one billion was to have been budgetary support," she added. The rupiah, which was trading at some 15,000 to the dollar in July, has since stabilized to around the 7,000 to 8,000 level -- still far short of the pre-crisis level of 2,450. The timing of the further disbursement of the bank's original two billion dollar component of the IMF package, of which 600 million dollars has already been disbursed, would depend on progress in implementing economic reforms, de Tray was quoted as saying. Discussions on the release of 400 million dollars were still under way, he said, adding that a number of "uncomfortable issues" remained to be dealt with. The Post said de Tray also underlined that the government was barred from using the bailout funds for political purposes. kw/bs/sm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 18 Dec 1998 jam 09:32:32 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
