PRIVATIZATION OF INDONESIA'S STATE FIRMS TO CONTINUE: MINISTER.

JAKARTA, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi has said the government will stick to its plan for the privatization of some state enterprises in a bid to improve the country's fiscal condition.

"Despite the controversy, we (the government) will proceed with the plan for the privatization of some state enterprises for the sake of fiscal improvement," Laksamana said in a gathering entitled "Bali for the World" in Denpasar on Monday evening.

He made it clear that the fiscal improvement is something indispensable, because failure to do so will result in the loss of confidence in the government.

According to him, in an effort to maintain such confidence, the government will also work for a debt restructuring called "Debt Overhung" in 2003.

The minister said the debt restructuring should be carried out soon so as to step up the competitiveness of Indonesian products over those of other countries.

Laksamana pointed out that, without monetary stability achieved through good fiscal policies, it would be impossible to step up the products' competitiveness.

"In this connection, the government expects the leaders of political parties to understand that this policy will benefit the people at large," he said.