KUALA LUMPUR: The Indonesian government announced it would pledge as much as $1 billion in an effort to boost the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resources following the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico. Jakarta is currently discussing the plan internally, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said this week. “This move is to show our commitment as part of the global community to strengthen world financial institutions, such as the IMF," Agus said after a plenary session of the House of Representatives in Jakarta. The plan reflected the nation's financial stability and its ability to aid the Washington-based lender of last resort, as the IMF has been struggling to help other nations struck by the current global financial downturn, Agus added. Indonesia was a recipient of IMF loans in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997-1998. The “structural adjustment" programs that the IMF required Indonesia to implement to receive loans dramatically worsened the nation's economy. Indonesia repaid its the loans in 2006. At the IMF's meeting in April, representatives of Southeast Asia's economies, including those from Indonesia, were signaling support for efforts led by the Bretton Woods institutions to bail out ailing economies following the crises in the US and Europe. The value of Indonesia's contribution, however, was not made public until Thursday. “We don't have the exact figure yet, but I think it will not exceed US$1 billion ... the funds will come from part of our foreign cash reserves," Agus said. Indonesia's move follows those made by other emerging economies, such as the BRICS grouping, which pledged money to the IMF as it co-funds bailouts to debt-ridden Greece, Ireland and Portugal. During the G20 meeting, China unveiled a commitment to contribute $43 billion to the IMF's firewall against fallout from Europe's debt crisis. Russia, India and nine other countries made similar commitments, bringing the IMF's total funding commitments up to $456 billion, on top of lending reserves of $380 billion.
