Indonesia: The Government Anticipates 4 Letters of Intent in A Year



13th November, 2001.

The Indonesian government aims to sign four Letters of Intent (LoI) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in one year. "With these four LoIs, we expect to receive at least US$ 1.6 billion," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti told the press after attending a national seminar entitled "WTC Tragedy’s Impact on Indonesia’s Economy" held at Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta this afternoon (13/11).

Dorodjatun said that for the 2001 budget the government would allocate funds from the last two IMF loans to the government treasury. According to Dorodjatun, the fourth LoI is still being discussed by the government and the IMF. The points stipulated in this LoI are likely to be the same as those found in previous agreements. Dorodjatun suggested, however that the latest LoI would be more complete than previous ones.

To date, Indonesia has received three soft loans from the IMF. For each Indonesia- IMF LoI, the government received US$ 400-million.

Meanwhile, last Friday (9/11), the IMF team visited Indonesia. The visit is aimed at discussing the fourth LoI with the Gotong Royong cabinet's economic team. The talks are expected to continue until November 19.