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Australia offers $1 bil. standby loan to Indonesia
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-10 16:14

JAKARTA -- Australia will provide one billion US dollars standby loan to Indonesia, to help the country to tackle the deepening impact of the global financial routs, according to a report reaching here from Bali.

A pedestrian walks past a jeweller's store in central Melbourne December 9, 2008. Australia will provide one billion US dollars standby loan to Indonesia,  according to a report reaching from Bali. [Agencies]

Indonesia has sought sources of loans from Japan, Australia, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to plug budget deficit in 2009, after the country plans to cut bond sales by a third due to the seeping of investors appetite.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd conveyed the offer during a meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The president thanked Rudd for the offer.

"During the crisis, all countries need financial support, including Indonesia," he told a press conference in Bali.

Indonesia has forecast its budget deficit around 52.7 trillion rupiah (US$4.37 billion) in 2009.

The Southeast Asia's largest economy, has slashed its 2009 growth forecast from 6.3 percent to 4.5-5 percent next year, as global economic conditions deteriorate.

The Indonesian authorities are scrambling to ease the fallout of the global economic downturn by boosting purchasing power at its huge domestic market with over 230 million population.