Indonesia gets $400m loan

The Asian Development Bank has agreed to give Indonesia a loan of £400m to help it reform its state-owned enterprises, and prepare them for private ownership.

A statement from the bank said the loan would help Indonesia increase the profitability of its state-owned enterprises, which had been weakened by government interference and indiscriminate subsidies.

It said privatisation would allow the government to release scarce resources for poverty reduction and social development.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service