IMF concerned on Bank Indonesia govt bond buying

Indonesia's chief economics minister said on Feb 5 the International Monetary Fund had objected to an amendment to the central bank law that would allow the institution to buy government bonds in the primary market. "The IMF disagreed...the central bank should not be able to buy government bonds in the primary market," Rizal Ramli told reporters, referring to a recent meeting with IMF's First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer in Switzerland. Ramli gave no more details.

The Fund has already expressed more general concerns over the central bank amendments, especially the issue of the bank's independence, which is guaranteed under current regulations. Those amendments are being debated by parliament. The IMF delayed a $400 million loan to Indonesia that was scheduled to be disbursed in December 2000 over the central bank changes and on concerns over new regional autonomy laws that took effect on January 1, 2001.

The central bank currently can only affect liquidity through one-and three-month certificates issued by the bank itself. However, the government plans to start issuing treasury bills in a few months, which had been expected to add to the central bank's arsenal for monetary operations.

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