IMF believes RI will stick to reform plan<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Agencies): The International Monetary Fund believes
\nIndonesia will continue with its economic reform policies
\nregardless of who wins the presidential contest on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
IMF First Managing Director Stanley Fischer said talks in
\nJakarta with the present government of B.J. Habibie, opposition
\nparties and academics on the country's reform agenda didn't throw
\nup "major differences" on economic policy.<\/p>\n
"That was encouraging," Fischer told a news conference at the
\nWorld Economic Forum's East Asia Summit.<\/p>\n
Dowjones reported Fischer reiterated that IMF lending to
\nIndonesia would remain frozen until the publication of a full
\nreport into the Bank Bali scandal. "Until that is resolved it
\nwill be very difficult to get the program back on track," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Fischer noted that legal issues are preventing the report from
\nbeing published.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, a local newspaper reported Monday that the Supreme
\nCourt is set to release its legal opinion later this week on
\nwhether the government can publish the report.<\/p>\n
The government's decision to withhold the report has sparked
\nwidespread criticism, including from the IMF and World Bank. Both
\nagencies have suspended loans to Indonesia and have demanded a
\ntransparent investigation process.<\/p>\n
Fischer noted that some legal experts believe there are no
\nlegal impediments to the report being published.<\/p>\n
The full report is believed to contain names of senior
\ngovernment officials and politicians that helped orchestrate the
\ntransfer of funds out of Bank Bali to a company controlled by a
\nsenior official in the ruling Golkar party.<\/p>\n
Fischer estimated that five Asian economies hardest hit by the
\nregional financial crisis would grow by an average four percent
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
He said South Korea was leading the economic recovery among
\nthe crisis-hit countries which also include Thailand, Malaysia,
\nIndonesia and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
"The Asia-five crisis countries are together now expected to
\ngrow on average by almost three percent in 1999 and four percent
\nin 2000," Fischer was quoted by AFP as saying.<\/p>\n
"At the moment (South) Korea is in the lead among the crisis
\ncountries with growth rate for 1999 likely to exceed sort of six,
\nseven percent average of previous years," he said.<\/p>\n
He said South Korea's quick recovery was because of rapid
\nmoves by the government to help the battered banking sector.<\/p>\n
He said electronics exports had also helped the country
\nrecover faster than the others from the crisis, which erupted in
\nmid-1997 and forced Seoul to seek an IMF bailout totaling $58
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
He also said that Asian countries which managed to escape the
\nbrunt of the crisis should not ignore reforms, to enable the
\nwhole region to restore the dynamism which underpinned stunning
\nrates of growth before 1997.<\/p>\n
Fischer said China had weathered the crisis better than many
\nhad expected through a well-timed fiscal stimulus which helped
\nsupport economic activity and the stability of the yuan.<\/p>\n
He said that the recent appreciation of most Asian currencies,
\nincluding the Japanese yen, had helped to reverse the real
\neffective appreciation of the yuan in the initial stage of the
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
But Fischer added that China still had to grapple with
\nstructural reform of the state sector and the banking sector.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/imf-believes-ri-will-stick-to-reform-plan-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}