Indonesia to Ask IMF to Reinstate Log Export Ban, Paper Says
07/07/00
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Title: Indonesia to Ask IMF to Reinstate Log Export Ban, Paper Says
Source: © Copyright 2000
Bloomberg News.
Date: July 7, 2000
Jakarta -- Indonesia will ask the International Monetary Fund for permission to reinstate a ban on log exports at a meeting on July 15, as the local wood industry is running out of raw material, Bisnis Indonesia newspaper reported, citing the Minister of Forestry and Plantations, Nurmahmudi Ismail. Indonesia can process as much as 48 million cubic meters of wood per year, while it produces only 22.8 million cubic meters per year. Indonesia agreed with the IMF to lift the log export ban in 1997, the report said.
Indonesia plans to shift logging concessions to state companies from private loggers in an attempt to prevent clear cutting of forests, as illegal logging and smuggling has become common.