World Bank Pledges New Loan for IndonesiaTalking to reporters here Wednesday, Baird said the bank has already disbursed 1.5 billion dollars for the 2000 state budget as part of its commitment during the meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) last February.
"Part of that represents the ongoing implementation of projects financed by the World Bank that would normally run about 400 million to 500 million dollars a year. On top of that, we agreed to finance around one billion dollars of budget support partly from adjustment operations already approved including the social safety net operation and partly from lending opportunities," he said.
At this stage, World Bank and the Indonesian government are discussing the implementation of the social safety net operation.
"We are satisfied with the progress and hope it will continue as we can disburse the remaining funds in this fiscal year," he was quoted by the Antara News Agency as saying.
Baird however said the new adjustment lending program still depends on the progress of the reform agenda, particularly in the field of good governance and poverty alleviation.
Meanwhile, visiting World Bank Vice President Jemal-ud-din Kassum told reporters here Wednesday that the substantial progress in the key areas of reform programs especially governance, decentralization and forest management in the next few months will set the stage for a successful CGI meeting in Tokyo from October 17 to 18.
"The success of CGI meeting will depend on how much the government could demonstrate its seriousness in conducting the reforms in these key areas," said Kassum, who arrived here on Tuesday.
The CGI is a forum where the Indonesian government and the country's major lenders meet to discuss and assess its economic cooperation programs.
During his two-day visit, Kassum used the occasion of his trip to chair an informal meeting of local CGI representatives and senior government officials to discuss how far Indonesia has carried out its reforms and what will be the focus of government actions in the months ahead of the next CGI meeting.
"The international donors continued to support Indonesia. Participants at the donors' informal meeting expressed concern about progress in key areas of the reform programs, especially on governance, decentralization and forest management," he added.