World Bank approves 1.1 billion USD Indonesia loan

Jakarta - The World Bank has approved two projects worth 1.1 billion USD to expand access to cleaner electricity in Indonesia.

The first project, worth 500 million USD, will connect about 2 million Indonesians to the electricity grid in the eastern part of the country, increase solar power investment and help Indonesia’s electrical power company, PT. PLN Persero improve its capacity to manage energy transition, the World Bank said in a statement.

It will be co-funded by the World Bank, the private sector and PLN and includes funding from Canada Clean Energy and Forest Climate Facility and the Clean Technology Fund.

The project will mobilise private sector finance for Indonesia’s energy transition and help communities adapt to climate change, Manuela V. Ferro, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.

Indonesia, which uses coal for most of its electricity, aims to reduce emissions by 32 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2060.

The second project recently approved by the World Bank for Indonesia is a 600 million USD grant to help the country curb stunning in children’s growth.

According to a government survey issued in January, about 21 per cent of Indonesian children under five had stunted growth in 2022, about 4.5 million children.

Indonesian government aims to lower the percentage to 14 per cent by 2024.

Indonesia’s police are conducting preliminary inquiries into whether any actions by officials at the country’s drug regulator could amount to criminal wrongdoing, as they expand a probe into tainted cough syrups linked to the deaths of more than 200 children across the nation.

The Indonesian Government on June 26 sent humanitarian aid to people affected by Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State of Myanmar last May.