The release of the audit report, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), contains few surprises for corruption-weary Indonesians. However, it paves the way for the resumption of International Monetary Fund aid and support from other multilateral institutions. The IMF and World Bank had suspended aid pending the full disclosure of the PwC audit and a firm indication from the government on what concrete steps it will take to resolve the Bank Bali case. Indonesian stocks climbed to close 1.54% higher on anticipation of IMF loan resumption, the benchmark Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite index ending at 603.59.

IMF Asia-Pacific Director Hubert Neiss says Indonesia has agreed to strengthen the agency overhauling its troubled banking system following the scandal. Speaking after talks with President Abdurrahman Wahid in Jakarta, Neiss notes that reforms are needed at both the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) and the central Bank Indonesia.

The Bank Bali debacle concerns over $70 million (546 billion rupiah) the bank handed to IBRA Deputy Chairman Pande Lubis and Golkar Party officials to collect debt owed to it by financial institutions under IBRA. The bribe went into the coffers of the then ruling party allegedly to fund ex-President B.J. Habibie's reelection bid. The PwC report charges: "There are numerous indicators of fraud, noncompliance, irregularity, misappropriation, undue preferential treatment, concealment, bribery, and corruption during the processing and payment of the Bank Bali claims."

The findings pose the first major challenge to just-elected President Wahid's government, which has vowed to clean up corruption. It is also a challenge to Attorney General Marzuki Darusman, a Golkar Party member, who must now decide whether and how to proceed with investigations into several of his party's senior aides. Marzuki has pledged that he will not compromise on politically sensitive investigations.