How Much Did Indonesia Owe the IMF During the 1998 Crisis?

During the 1998 Asian financial crisis, the Indonesian government was forced to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This was marked by the signing of a Letter of Intent (LoI) by President Soeharto in the presence of IMF Managing Director Michael Camdessus on January 15, twenty years ago.

During the economic crisis, the IMF approved a loan for Indonesia of 17.36 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to US$23.53 billion or approximately Rp 130 trillion. However, only 11.1 billion SDRs, or approximately US$14.99 billion, were disbursed. This amount was equivalent to Rp 93.5 trillion.

On November 5, 1997, the IMF approved a loan in the form of standby arrangements (SBA) worth 8.34 billion SDRs, but only 3.67 billion SDRs were disbursed. Then, on August 25, 1998, the International Monetary Fund approved a loan in the form of an extended fund facility (EFF) worth 5.38 billion SDRs, but only 3.8 billion SDRs were disbursed. Furthermore, on February 4, 2000, another loan of 3.64 billion SDRs was approved, and the entire amount was disbursed. These IMF loans were not disbursed directly but gradually from 1997 to 2003. However, all these debts were repaid in October 2006 during the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.