JAKARTA - THE Indonesian government plans to build special prisons for graft convicts because a rising number of inmates is crowding existing facilities, the Jakarta Post newspaper reported on Sunday.

The country's prisons have a capacity for 80,000 inmates, well below the more than 137,000 people behind bars across Indonesia, the newspaper said, citing Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata.

An increasing number of graft convicts in Indonesia have created the need to expand facilities, the paper said. The Southeast Asian country ranks regularly among the world's most corrupt.

During President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidency, many higher-ranking officials, parliament members, bankers and business people have been jailed for graft, although critics say some of the worse cases of corruption have yet to be tackled. -- REUTERS