In Brief: Chase, Citi, B of A Join Indonesia Debt Panel

Chase Manhattan Corp., Citicorp, and BankAmerica Corp. have joined a bank steering committee set up Friday to restructure an estimated $66 billion in private-sector Indonesian debt.

Indonesia has slid into economic turmoil following a loss of investor confidence in the country and a more than 70% decline in the value of the national currency against the U.S. dollar over the last six months. Since yearend, most Indonesian corporations have halted loan and interest payments to foreign banks and other creditors.

U.S. banks have lent nearly $2.6 billion to Indonesian borrowers, although total exposure, including a variety of off-balance-sheet transactions such as foreign exchange hedging contracts, is estimated to be almost twice that amount.

Other banks on the steering committee are: Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro NV, HSBC Holdings PLC, Banque Nationale de Paris, Standard Chartered Bank PLC, Overseas China Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. and Sanwa Bank Ltd.

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