Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund praised Indonesia's 2003 draft budget on Friday, describing it as "sound" and saying it made big headway in reducing the country's hefty debt burden.

"This is a sound budget which, along with other policy reforms, should help reinforce macro economic stability," David Nellor, IMF senior resident representative in Jakarta, told Reuters.

"One of the observations that can be made from this budget is the tremendous gains this government has made in terms of reducing the deficit to help improve the debt situation," he added.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri handed down the economic blueprint to parliament earlier on Friday saying economic growth would be targeted at five percent from four percent in 2002. It also forecast a budget deficit of 1.3 percent of gross domestic product from 2.5 percent in 2002.