Jakarta – The crippling economic crisis that has engulfed Indonesia since July has forced 90 percent of the country's book publishers to halt operations, a report said here Tuesday.

About 90 percent of Indonesia's 587 book publishers have stopped operating, the head of the Indonesian Publishers' Association, Rozali Usman was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying. Usman also said the estimated number of book titles published this year would reach only about 2,000 titles compared to the 4,000 titles last year.

He said the crisis, which has led to soaring paper prices, has forced those publishers still in operation to cut down on titles, the number of copies and to use lower-quality paper. Usman was speaking after the signing of an agreement between a foundation controlled by the association and the Ford Foundation, under which the US institution will provide 400,000 dollars a year to subsidise about 130 book titles.

The subsidy will cover 90 percent of production costs for books on anthropology, art and culture, literature, history, human rights, demography, sociology and education, he said.

The crisis, which has seen the rupiah lose about 70 percent of its exchange value against the dollar, has led to soaring prices of paper which is mostly imported. Weakened buying power, as wages stay stable while prices continue to soar, has also affected book purchases.