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Jakarta asks US for currency swap By John Aglionby in Jakarta Published: February 18 2009 17:04 | Last updated: February 18 2009 17:04 Indonesia on Wednesday asked the visiting Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, for a currency swap facility and budgetary contingency funding to bolster the ailing rupiah and the country's broader economy in the face of the global financial crisis. Officials said the requests came with the suggestion that, without US financial support, Indonesia might not be able to continue to be the beacon of thriving "Islam, modernity and democracy" that Mrs Clinton has been trumpeting on her Asian trip. Indonesia is already seeking to extend its $6bn (?4.7bn, £4.2bn) currency swap arrangement with Japan and has similar deals, each worth $3bn, with China and South Korea. Its foreign reserves were $51bn at the end of January, down more than 10 per cent in three months. The rupiah has weakened more than 8 per cent this year, greater than any other regional currency apart from South Korea's won. Washington already has currency swap arrangements with Singapore and South Korea. Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia's foreign minister, told Mrs Clinton that Japan, Australia, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank had agreed to standby loans of $5bn. Teukeu Faizasyah, Mr Wirajuda's spokesman, said: "The minister said it would be in the interests of the US to provide similar assistance. "The request was made in the broader context of the global financial crisis and Indonesia as a democratic country. It will be quite hard for Indonesia to share the message of democracy if it is not able to continue to maintain its prosperity." Mr Wirajuda did not put any figures on the requests and Mrs Clinton was reported as saying she would discuss the proposals in Washington. She, in return, put pressure on Indonesia to meet its responsibilities as a member of the G20, saying at a press conference: "We have an obligation to help restore global growth and economic prosperity." Indonesia's G20 partners have accused it of creeping protectionism. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's president, is one of the few leaders yet to confirm his participation at the G20 summit in London in April. Mrs Clinton is in Indonesia as part of her maiden overseas tour that also takes in Japan, South Korea and China. On Wednesday. she became the first US secretary of state to visit the secretariat of the Association of South East Asian Nations, where she announced that Washington would begin the process to accede to Asean's treaty of amity and co-operation. By signing the treaty, the US would agree not to launch a unilateral strike against any signatory - which includes most of east Asia. Additional reporting by Taufan Hidayat
