Within a week, Indonesia will finish repaying all its debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ending an eight-year, up-and-down relationship with the global financial agency. The central bank notified the IMF of the payment plan Thursday, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah said, adding that the process is expected to be wrapped up within the next five days. Indonesia will pay the remaining US$3.2 billion of its principle and interest to the Fund, Deputy Governor Hartadi A. Sarwono said. Hartadi explained that the earlier debt repayment was feasible in light of Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves, which have recently strengthened to $42.3 billion on sound macroeconomic conditions.
The central bank repaid $3.7 billion of Indonesia's then approximately $7 billion in remaining debt to the Washington-based financial agency in June, following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's request to settle the debt within the next two years. The IMF debt does not actually come due until 2010. |