Japan guarantees RI’s first samurai bond

Rendi A. Witular ,   THE JAKARTA POST ,   PHUKET, THAILAND  |  Mon, 02/23/2009 10:55 AM  

In agreement: Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (right) and Japanese Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Shinsuke Suematsu shake hands after signing a financial sector deal in the Thai resort island of Phuket on Saturday. JP/Rendi A. Witular

Japan agreed Saturday to provide financial support worth US$1.5 billion for guaranteeing Indonesia’s planned yen-denominated bond, known as the samurai bond. 

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Japanese Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Shinsuke Suematsu forged the guarantee deal during the special ASEAN+3 Finance Minister’s meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket. 

Mulyani said the bond, which would be Indonesia’s first ever, was aimed at helping the government plug this year’s widening budget shortfall after it planned to unload more funds to stimulate the economy amid the global economic hard times. 

“The fund will be provided in the form of a guarantee by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to the Indonesian government in issuing yen-denominated foreign bonds in the Japanese capital market,” Mulyani said. 

“Under the deal, if the bond fails to lure the appetite of Japanese investors, and the yield is deemed too expensive for the Indonesian government to bear, Japan can convert the fund into ordinary loans to help cover the budget deficit.” 

Mulyani could not provide the exact timing for the issue, saying it would depend primarily on the condition of the global financial sector. 

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, will need to link the samurai bond with the JBIC because the country’s sovereign investment rating is insufficient for the issue, according to the Finance Ministry’s head of fiscal policy, Anggito Abimanyu. 

The JBIC has AAA rating. 

While primarily aimed at keeping the budget deficit in check, Anggito said the bond proceeds or the loans would be allocated mostly to finance trade and projects linked to Japan. 

The Finance Ministry’s director general for budget management, Anny Ratnawati, said last week

the deficit would swell to Rp 136.9 trillion ($11.1 billion), or 2.6 percent of the country’s GDP, from a previous forecast of Rp 129.5 trillion, or 2.5 percent of the GDP. 

Aside from the guarantee facility, Mulyani also said Japan had agreed to help the stability of the Indonesian economy and complement its current strong position of foreign reserves by upgrading the size of the existing bilateral swap arrangement. 

Under the Chiang Mai Initiative, Japan and Indonesia will double the swap deal to $12 billion.

The initiative was inked in Thailand in 2000, aimed at creating a network of bilateral swap arrangements among ASEAN+3 countries to address short-term liquidity difficulties in the region and to supplement existing international financial arrangements. 

ASEAN+3 includes the 10 members of ASEAN — the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos — as well as the three East Asian nations of Japan, China and South Korea. 

The bigger swap allocation will strengthen Indonesia’s foreign currency reserves in case of a sharp depreciation in the rupiah against the US dollar. Latest central bank data shows Indonesia’s foreign exchange reserves currently stand at $50.87 million. 

Bank Indonesia uses the reserves to supply the financial market with the greenback, making sure the volatility in the rupiah can be maintained at favorable levels. 

The rupiah has been losing ground over the past weeks, hovering at above Rp 12,000 per dollar, higher than the Rp 11,000 earmarked under the planned revision of this year’s state budget, as banks shop for more dollars to pay for derivatives deals with exporters. 

While the declining value of the rupiah is in part good for exports, it creates a greater harm, especially for the country’s ability to pay dollar-denominated government and private sector debts, as well as the ability to finance international trade. 

“The deal with Japan, which is a very progressive move, can ease speculation in the rupiah because Indonesian foreign currency reserves are getting bigger and stronger. This will boost confidence in the market and in the businesses,” Mulyani said. 

She added Japan was ready to take part in a joint contingent loan facility for Indonesia, which is being elaborated by Indonesia and its development partners, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other countries. 

“Although the Indonesian economy remains sound, there’s still a need for a second line of defense in a bid to fully anticipate the worst from the impact of the global economic crisis,” she said.