The government is allocating 138 bln rupiah to revitalize small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tsunami-hit Aceh province, Kompas daily reported, citing Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Suryadarma Ali.
Ali said the money will come from the state budget being allocated to his ministry in 2005 as well as unused funds from the 2004 budget.
Kompas also quoted Anggito Abimanyu, an expert staff with the Finance Minister, as saying that the ministry will relocate at least 15 infrastructure projects from other provinces to Aceh, as part of efforts speed up Aceh's reconstruction.
He said these projects are idle infrastructure projects to be funded by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Abimanyu said the undisbursed loans from the two agencies amounted to US$3bn.
The release of such funding will normally be tied to the projects' feasibility as well as the availability of rupiah funding from the government...
