"We're very close to full agreement and very confident (of getting it)," Ms. Soewandi said.

Her remarks Thursday night came at the end of a day on which some securities analysts and shareholders got the idea that Astra's debt-restructuring plan had suffered a setback. Meetings called in Singapore to approve the restructuring of three dollar-denominated bonds, with a total value of US$425 million, couldn't be held for lack of a quorum. This fueled the selling of Astra shares, which fell 6.8% to close at 1,375 rupiah (16 cents).

But Ms. Soewandi's comments hours after the close of trading indicate that Astra is within grasp of securing final agreement on its debt-restructuring plan, which would make it the first Indonesian company to restructure more than $1 billion in debt. Most heavily indebted Indonesian companies prefer to wait out their creditors. The country's new bankruptcy system has yet to force many of these companies to work out their debt problems.

To proceed, Astra's proposal must be aproved by bank creditors and bondholders, who own at least two-thirds of all debt. The　95% of banks that agreed to the plan to　reschedule bank loans own more than 60% of the total debt, Astra said. On Thursday, creditors in Jakarta approved the plan for restructuring 400 billion rupiah of debt, which puts Astra closer to gaining the endorsement from 67% of all creditors.

To get past the 67% mark, Astra needs approval from creditors of any one of the three dollar-denominated bonds. And Ms. Soewandi is confident this will come when bondholders meet again in Singapore on May 14 to try to achieve they failed to at Thursday's abortive meeting.

Astra's optimism about gaining approval on May 14 is rooted in the fact that, under the terms of the bonds, that day's meetings need only 25% of bondholders present to have a quorum. On Thursday, 75% were required to have been present. Aminuddin, an Astra vice president, said bondholders are spread across many countries, so the company wasn't surprised by the failure to have a quorum. Another Astra executive estimated that 30% of bondholders were represented.

Under the overall plan, Astra's debts are divided into three tranches that will be repaid within three years, 6.5 years and 7.5 years.

Astra, which dominates Indonesia's automobile business and has interests in plantations and finance, stunned creditors last　October by telling them it would halt interest payments. It said the halt was unavoidable because car sales had been crushed, falling by about 90% compared with figures before the Asian economic crisis engulfed Indonesia late in 1997.

As part of its restructuring plan, Astra has been selling some noncore assets. The plan also puts tough controls on management and cash flows over a seven-year period.