Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Monday that Indonesia should learn from Nigeria's initiative to reduce its reliance on funding from international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"[Nigerian] President Obasanjo has adopted the policy not to rely on anybody, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund," President Wahid said during the induction of the new Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria, Moezdan Rasjad.

Moezdan served as a career diplomat in Thailand, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. He also served as deputy ambassador to Japan.

Indonesia, President Abdurrahman said, should also learn from Nigeria's attempts to catch up with modernization without forgetting its traditional heritage. The President is planning to visit Nigeria, but the date has not yet been set.

Indonesia is one of the largest debtors of both the World Bank and the IMF. The World Bank has said that it would probably cut its loans to Indonesia from US$1.2 billion a year to between $500 million and $1 billion because of the country's huge debt burden.

Meanwhile, the IMF is still stalling the disbursement of approximately $400 million to Indonesia, one installment from a total of $5 billion promised to the country over a three year period ending in 2003.