Indonesia's debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio dropped 30 percent from 2003 to 2008, showing that the country's dependence on loan for propelling the economy has been reducing, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said.
"In 2003, Indonesia's debt to GDP ratio stood at 61 percent. Five years later in 2008, the ratio reached 33 percent. Government plans to reduce the ratio down to 32 percent this year," the Kompas.com quoted Monday the minister as saying.
Comparing to such a ratio in the developed countries, Sri Mulyani said that Indonesia was tremendous. In Japan, the ratio increased 30 percent in the same period, while in the United Kingdom and the United States the ratio increased by 12 percent and 10 percent respectively.
She explained on Sunday that the highest ratio in Indonesia took place in 1999 at 100 percent when the government had to issue sovereign bonds worth 600 trillion rupiah (about 59.2 billion U.S. dollars) to save the national banking industry following a financial crisis.
"After that time, the administrations of President Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri and the incumbent president have the same commitment in reducing the debt ratio," she said.
According to the finance minister, the government's debts as of May 2009 reached 1,700 trillion rupiah (about 167.7 billion dollars), higher than 1,636 trillion rupiah (about 161.3 billion dollars) late last year.