Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Anti-Debt Coalition (KAU) on Thursday urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the ways in which the country`s foreign debts are managed.

“The KPK is making one step forward now that it begins to touch issues related to foreign debts by monitoring or controlling their management,” KAU Chief Dani Setiawan said in a statement issued on Thursday.

The existence of idle funds from foreign debts could be the result of the people`s low absorbing power which in turn encourages corrupt behavior, he said.

For its part, the coalition asked the KPK to cooperate with other state agencies such as the State Audit Board (BPK) to deal with issues related to foreign debts, he said.

Since the New Order era, foreign debts were never absorbed optimally, he said.

KAU also rejected the recent fuel oil price hikes which it said were inseparable from the government`s agenda to liberalize the energy sector.

It accused such international financial institutions as the World Bank World Bank
WB The World Bank was founded as part of the new international monetary system set up at Bretton Woods in 1944. Its capital is provided by member states’ contributions and loans on the international money markets. It financed public and private projects in Third World and East European countries.

It consists of several closely associated institutions, among which :

1. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 189 members in 2017), which provides loans in productive sectors such as farming or energy ;

2. The International Development Association (IDA, 159 members in 1997), which provides less advanced countries with long-term loans (35-40 years) at very low interest (1%) ;

3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which provides both loan and equity finance for business ventures in developing countries.

As Third World Debt gets worse, the World Bank (along with the IMF) tends to adopt a macro-economic perspective. For instance, it enforces adjustment policies that are intended to balance heavily indebted countries’ payments. The World Bank advises those countries that have to undergo the IMF’s therapy on such matters as how to reduce budget deficits, round up savings, enduce foreign investors to settle within their borders, or free prices and exchange rates.

and a number of foreign companies of pressuring the government into adopting the agenda.

The agenda was reflected by the government`s decision to raise fuel oil prices in May 2008 and October 2005, it said.

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Anti Debt Coalition protest in front of world bank office in Jakarta, pictures here and here