Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government still has a chance to sell Samurai bonds of up to US$1 billion in the Japanese capital market this year, its chief economic minister said.

"The finance minister told me that the amount is about US$750 million to US$1 billion," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa told a press conference held on the sidelines of a meeting of the Indonesia-Japan Joint Economic Forum here on Monday.

The amount was guaranteed by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), he said.

Indonesia and Japan signed a guarantee deal during the special ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket last year.

Under the deal, Japan through the JBIC would provide financial support of US$1.5 billion to guarantee the issuance of the bonds. The deal also stipulates if the bonds fails to attract Japanese investors and the yield is too expensive for the Indonesian government to bear, Japan can convert the fund into ordinary loans to help cover Indonesia`s budget deficit.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati meanwhile said the government was considering issuing Samurai bond according to the amount set in the 2010 state budget.

"Last year we issued around US$350 million (worth of samurai bond) so we still have guarantee from the JBIC," she said.

She said the 2010 state might still be subject to revision because of many factors including external ones.

Asked whether the amount of samurai bond to be issued this year would be higher than last year`s, she said it was possible.

"We will look at the best timing for the issuance of the bond for the benefit of our state budget," she said.

She said the current domestic conditions reflected by the rupiah`s strong exchange rate and the positive global sentiment towards the Indonesian market were conducive for the issuance of samurai bond.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli

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