Down to earth solutions needed<\/p>\n
One of Mr. Kwik Kian Gie's concerns over foreign exchange
\ncontrol (\"Insight,\" Sept. 22, 1998) is the level and conduct of
\nthe bureaucracy needed to make it happen.<\/p>\n
Obviously Mr. Kwik has never had to wander through the offices
\nof the Ministry of Finance in Lapangan Banteng, or visit BKPM
\ntrying to meet an official, or battle through the dirt and
\ncigarette smoke of an immigration office, register his car, renew
\nhis driver's license or visit his local tax service center. If he
\nhad done any of these things, he would quickly realize that there
\nis a massive underutilized bureaucracy out there, just waiting
\nfor the challenge of exchange controls to give them a useful
\nday's work. Although Mr. Kwik states that expanding the
\nbureaucracy will lead to corrupt practices, I disagree. The vast
\nmajority of the people working for the government are honest and
\nhard working. In many cases they lack resources. The extra levies
\nare simply to supplement meaningless salaries. This is very
\ndifferent from corruption.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kwik is also concerned that importers would overprice
\ntheir imports in order to sneak foreign currency offshore. This
\nmay be true, but could be controlled again by reintroducing the
\nvery successful SGS pre-shipment inspections. In any event, the
\nadditional customs and tax revenues collected from such over-
\npricing would benefit the Indonesian economy.<\/p>\n
Finally, like many private citizens, Mr. Kwik is concerned
\nthat he may be unable to legally obtain foreign currency for
\nmedical attention or vacations or schooling overseas. Well I'm
\nsorry Mr. Kwik, but this means sharing the pain that has been
\nforced on 98 percent of your fellow citizens with the open market
\neconomy promoted by economists and the intellectuals of the IMF.<\/p>\n
W.C. Fields said \"I've had many problems in my life, most of
\nthem never happened.\" Let's hear some practical solutions from
\nscholars such as Mr. Kwik, not theoretical problems.<\/p>\n
JOHN SLACK<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/down-to-earth-solutions-needed-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }