| GEO Business | | ADB approves US$1 billion loan for Indonesia | Updated at: 1425 PST, Thursday, June 04, 2009
 JAKARTA: The Asian Development Bank approved a $1 billion loan to Indonesia to keep up spending on poverty alleviation and other key social projects during the financial downturn.
It is one of the largest single amounts the bank has ever provided to Southeast Asia's largest economy, the lender said in a statement Thursday.
Indonesia will now have a credit facility of $5.5 billion with the ADB to meet quarterly financing shortfalls through 2010, it said.
"The global financial crisis has made it expensive for Indonesia to access international debt markets," said Jasheem Ahmed, an ADB finance director. Repayment of the ADB loan will be cheaper than through commercial banks.
The loan will go toward upkeep of public spending on programs providing a safety net to the poor, build infrastructure and support the commercial and financial sectors, the ADB said.
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