Currency stability is top priority: Soeharto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Restoring currency stability will be the new
\ngovernment's most immediate priority, President Soeharto said
\nlast night.<\/p>\n
\"We're not asking for much. We just want to have a stable
\nrupiah so that people's living standards do not fall further,\"
\nSoeharto said during a dinner in honor of the 1,000 members of
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
If this was achieved, the country's economic wheels could
\nstart rolling again, he said.<\/p>\n
The crisis, he admitted, had made it seem that the fruits of
\n30 years of development had been destroyed. \"This crisis has
\ninflicted big losses on everyone.\"<\/p>\n
The rupiah has plunged by more than 70 percent in the last
\neight months. Soeharto has indicated on several occasions that he
\nmight move to peg the rupiah to a more acceptable level.<\/p>\n
Thanking the 1,000 Assembly members for returning him to
\noffice for his seventh term on Wednesday, Soeharto promised that
\nhe would do his utmost to end the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Soeharto shared a table with new Vice President B.J. Habibie
\nand his wife Ainun, former vice president Try Sutrisno and his
\nwife, and assembly speaker Harmoko and his wife.<\/p>\n
There were 237 tables in all at the candle-lit dinner. The
\ndrinks served were milk, Coca cola and the Kratingdaeng energy
\ndrink.<\/p>\n
\"We need this to regain our stamina,\" said Ekky Syahrudin from
\nGolkar as he sipped his energy drink.<\/p>\n
The menu was a combination of Padang food, Javanese nasi liwet
\n(a rice dish), baked fish, soup, and satay.<\/p>\n
\"It's nothing lavish. Times are hard,\" a presidential
\nhousehold official said.<\/p>\n
The prayers were led by Moslem scholar and preacher Quraish
\nShihab.<\/p>\n
\"So this is going to be our new minister of religious
\naffairs,\" some diners commented on Quraish's choice.<\/p>\n
To enliven the evening, pop singers Yuni Shara and Dewi Yull
\nentertained the diners. (prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/currency-stability-is-top-priority-soeharto-1447893297",
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