Minister: Indonesia secures $6 bln standby loans

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

JAKARTA, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- Indonesia has got commitment from foreign creditors of up to 6 billon U.S. dollars standby loans if it fails to get sufficient funds from bond markets to plug the budget deficit targeted of 2.5 percent of the GDP, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said Monday.

The Indonesian government has issued global conventional and Islamic bonds to tap recovered bonds markets as the U.S. and other developed economies plan to launch stimulus packages to revive investors' appetite on assets in emerging market, including Indonesia.

But, the continuing global recession which triggers uncertainty in the market has drawn concern of the failure to tap the markets.

"We have secured both bilateral and multilateral support valued at the ranges of 5 to 6 billion U.S. dollars. This value should be sufficient if we must face market risks such as being unable to sell bonds," Mulyani told reporters at the State Palace here.

Mulyani also said that the domestic economy is still facing uncertainty amid the global economic recession.

The Indonesian government has decided to build massive infrastructure projects to address unemployment and spur growth.

For that goal, the government has proposed an economic stimulus package worth 71.3 trillion rupiah (6.32 billion U.S. dollars).

Indonesia has said it was seeking standby loans from Australia, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank in order to secure funding for a projected 132 trillion rupiah (11.38 billion U.S. dollars) budget deficit this year.