Jakarta. Indonesia plans to use an off-budget financing vehicle to help settle $7.3 billion in debt owed to Chinese creditors for the Whoosh high-speed railway, as the government seeks to minimize the burden on the state budget, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said on Thursday.

Purbaya said the government is preparing a financing scheme outside the state budget, including the use of special mission vehicles (SMVs) under the Finance Ministry.

The announcement came after the government formally assumed responsibility for resolving the debt from Danantara Indonesia, the state investment fund that oversees the country's state-owned enterprises.

Although the government will assume the liability, repayment should not come at the expense of funding for other priority programs, Purbaya said.

"Even though the government will take responsibility for the Whoosh debt, we will minimize as much as possible the use of state budget funds to repay it," he told reporters in Jakarta. "I have many special mission vehicles."

Purbaya also indicated that proceeds from Indonesia's planned yuan-denominated Panda Bond issuance would not be used to finance the Whoosh debt. He said the Panda Bond is intended to help finance the state budget deficit rather than any specific project.

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