TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Minister of Finance Boediono has announced that, as stated in the Letter of Intent IV (LoI IV), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will disburse a US$400 million loan to Indonesia by the end of January 2002. Boediono commented on Thursday (3/1) that, “These funds must be disbursed this month. There are no problems between the government and the IMF regarding the LoI.” The Minister explained that the disbursement does formally depend upon the upcoming meeting of the IMF executive board in Washington. This program represents a follow up to previous agreements reached on August 27, 2001. The Minister added that the recent crisis in Argentina would not have an impact on the disbursement of this loan. “I believe the IMF has already slotted loans amounting to US$5 billion, and this represents a contract between the government and the IMF since the LoI I was signed. So this is just a follow up,” he said. In other words, the funds would not be transferred to Argentina. (Ebnu Yufriadi-Tempo News Room)
