After repaying half of the remaining debts taken from the International Monetary Fund in June, the Indonesian government is very likely to pay off the debts this year, an official said Wednesday.

"We hope we will be able to repay the remaining debts of 3.8 billion U.S. dollars this year," Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah told reporters here.

"If the foreign exchange reserves can reach 43 billion dollars, there is a wide possibility to pay off this year."

The central bank announced recently the foreign exchange reserves rose by 675 million dollars to 41.8 billion dollars in the first week of August from the preceding week.

Abdullah said if the final payment could not take place this year, it would be delayed to 2007 at the latest.

The IMF debts fall due in 2010.

Source: Xinhua