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Indonesia calls on ADB to improve loan channeling
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Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro (Antara)
W
hile praising reforms undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Indonesia demanded on Wednesday that the multilateral bank continue efforts to improve procedures for its lending and procurement rules.
Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro urged the ADB’s annual governors meeting to ensure that the bank’s enhanced financial capacity be complemented by improving operational capability through continuous reforms.
He said Indonesia was pleased with the reforms that the ADB had undertaken in implementing a mid-term review but urged the bank to continue efforts to improve business processes, including more streamlined procedures, fewer delays in the overall process and more flexible procurement rules.
“The ADB also needs to be more adaptive to country systems. In my view, delegating more decisions to resident missions will allow for more effective and efficient coordination,” said Bambang.
Indonesia is the ADB’s third biggest loan recipient after India and Pakistan, with US$2.92 billion in outstanding debt as of last year. The country is the bank’s sixth biggest shareholder (with a 5.45 percent stake), with Japan being the biggest (15.51 percent), followed by the US (15.51 percent), China (6.45 percent), India (6.33 percent) and Australia (5.79 percent).
During the event, Indonesia also voiced its appreciation for the ADB’s response to prepare various financing facilities such as the Countercyclical Support Facility (CSF) and Precautionary Financing Facility (PFF).
“We welcome the CSF focus around providing budget support for countercyclical fiscal stimulus packages to assist countries in responding to external shocks and in preventing crises in an immediate and reasonable manner,” said Bambang.
Indonesia also appreciated the ADB’s efforts to remain a relevant and effective development partner in the region by offering facilities such as the Policy Based Lending/Programmatic Approach, project loans and Result Based Lending (RBL).
“We encourage the ADB to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of each modality and be more responsive to real issues on the ground,” Bambang said. (dmr)
