TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the Jakarta - Bandung High Speed Train project will be fully financed under the private to private scheme. Sri Mulyani asserted that the government will not be involved in the project funding.

“As far as I know, as informed by the State-Owned Enterprises Minister, [the financing scheme] is private to private,” Sri Mulyani said at her office in Jakarta on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan echoed Sri Mulyani’s comment saying that the high-speed train project developed will be financed by private companies to maintain the debt ratio to the gross domestic product under 30 percent.

“Everything is [managed under] business to business. We want to maintain the debt ratio to the GDP [under 30 percent],” Luhut said.

Earlier in late May, Wijaya Karya president director Bintang Perbowo said that the China Development Bank (CDB) has not yet disbursed the loan for the project although both parties have signed an agreement. In addition, consortium PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia Cina (KCIC) has signed agreements on high-speed train engineering, procurement, and development.

The initial fund to be disbursed by the CDB will amount to US$1 billion, from US$6 billion needed to realize the project.

DIKO OKTARA