Washington, 3 November 1997 (RFE/RL) - The International Monetary Fund is assembling a multinational financial support package for Indonesia that will be about $23 billion.
Indonesia is one of the Southeast Asian nations which has been rocked by financial instability in recent weeks, sending shock waves through stock markets around the world.
IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus told a press conference in Washington Friday that the fund expects to approve an unusual three-year stand-by loan of $10 billion this week. Additional funding will come from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and Indonesia's own reserves.
Camdessus says the package is predicated on a massive program of reform and adjustment by Indonesia, including quick and massive restructuring of its financial sector, ending monopolies and deregulating trade.
A number of countries, including the U.S., China and Japan, have offered a second-line defense fund should the situation require.