IMF rescue for Indonesia

The International Monetary Fund has announced a $23 billion emergency rescue-package - the second-largest in the fund's history - for Indonesia, with the United States and other countries preparing to provide additional billions of dollars.

The IMF itself will provide $10bn, the World Bank $4.5bn and the Asian Development Bank $3.5bn for the economic bail-out, announced Michel Camdessus, IMF managing director. Another $5 billion will come from Indonesian assets, he said.

The U.S. contribution in loans, if necessary, would amount to $3 billion and would come from the Exchange Stabilisation Fund; the source that President Bill Clinton tapped in 1995 to rescue the Mexican economy after its currency collapsed.

-AP, Washington