RI absorbs only 53 pct of its loan commitment: minister

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State Minister for National Develoment Planning/Head of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Paskah Suzetta said Indonesia had absorbed only about 52 percent of the current US$15 billion foreign loan commitment.

"The foreign loan commitment amounts to about 15 billion US dollars of which only about 52 percent had been disbursed," the minister said here on Thursday.

He said that most of the foreign loans could not yet be disbursed because of obstacles in preparing land for infrastructure projects.

"All are program and project loans. The largest portion of the loans are for the development of instructure projects," he explained.

He said that his office was evaluating Indonesia`s program and project loans in order to make a final decision on which of the programs or projects had to be continued or stopped.

"I cannot reveal how much of the loans will be used and how much will be returned. We will look at the various aspects, including the project`s readiness and the terms and conditions," Paskah said.

Touching on the platform of Indonesia`s debts at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which reached one billion US dollars a year but for this year still accounted for 400 million US dollars only, Paskah said that the withdrawal of the loans were based on an evaluation of the Indonesian government.

"They set aside a platform at US$1 billion but we are stuck to the evaluation on our readiness to utilize it in the form of program or project loans," the minister added.

On the occasion, the minister also explained the agenda he would take to Japan when he joins President Yudhoyono`s visit to Tokyo later this month.

He said that there was a possibility that a loan agreement for the construction of a mass rapid transport (MRT) project would be signed.

"Initially there was a delay in the MRT project but following negotiations with Japan, we finally reached agreement on the terms and conditions concerning the use of local contents in the project," the minister said.

He said that Indonesia and Japan had agreed that local contents reached 30 percent, local contents from Japan 30 percent and the remaining 40 percent to be put on an open international tender.