Indonesia settles disputed $260m OPIC claim

JAKARTA - Indonesia's finance minister Boediono has signed an agreement to pay a $260m disputed insurance claim with the Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC), a US based government agency that insures and finances private US investments in developing countries. The agreement ends a dispute over the failure of Indonesia's state-run electricity company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to honour power purchase contracts with CalEnergy, part of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. PLN has battled what it perceives to be unfair contract terms agreed during the rule of President Suharto, under which the company must buy electricity from private suppliers in dollars to sell to its customers in rupiah.