JAKARTA: The Indonesian government is in talks with development banks for loans totalling US$7 bil (RM30.6 bil) to finance its Covid-19 relief efforts, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told a call with investors.
The institutions tapped include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Germany’s KFW and Japan International Cooperation Agency, another finance ministry official told the call.
Indonesia raised US$4.3 bil in a recent dollar bond sale to help fund its battle against the virus. Minister Indrawati said pricing was comparable with similar issuance in the past two years.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s central bank said it has room for further interest rate cuts to support the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but would be careful in making such a move and will prioritise the rupiah’s stability, its governor said.
“I say we have room to lower interest rates. But do we use it?” Governor Perry Warjiyo told an online news conference.
“Bank Indonesia (BI) will be very careful in doing so, taking into account the stability of the exchange rate because the uncertainty in the global market is high.”
Warjiyo also said BI had secured a US$60 bil repo line with the US Federal Reserve that it could use to increase onshore dollar supply if needed. – April 7, 2020, Reuters
