BNI, BRI to provide Rp 1.38t for tollway

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) have signed a loan syndication agreement to partly finance the construction of a 35-kilometer tollway in Java.

Under the agreement, which was signed Friday in Jakarta, the two banks will provide a loan of Rp 1.38 trillion (US$151.65 million) to tollway operator PT Semesta Marga Raya.

"The loan, which is for the construction of a tollway between Kanci in Cirebon, West Java, and Penjagan in Brebes, Central Java, will have a 10-year maturity," BNI president director Sigit Pramono said as quoted by Antara after the signing of the loan facility.

BNI, as the syndicate leader, would provide Rp 897.6 billion, or 65 percent, of the total loan, and BRI the remaining Rp 483.3 billion, or 35 percent, he explained.

The tollway project is part of the government's program to accelerate infrastructural development.

The government had earlier announced an ambitious plan to construct a 1,000-kilometer tolled expressway along the north coast of Java within three years.

The Public Works Ministry and local administrations have already procured the land for the construction of the Kanci-Penjagan tollway.

Semesta, which will construct the Kanci-Penjagan scheme, is 35 percent owned by PT Bakrie Investindo, 25 percent by PT Satria Citra Perkasa, 25 percent by Transglobal Finance Ltd. and 15 percent by Pan Galactic Investment Ltd.