An appeal for clean govt

An appeal for clean govt

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank will
again be holding their routine annual meeting beginning next
week. This time, though, the meeting will be different from those
held before as it will be held at a time when Asian countries,
including Indonesia, are still reeling under monetary crisis. It
is therefore not surprising that one of the main points on the
agenda will be to find a suitable solution for those countries
affected.

Conditions in Thailand, for example, will be the main focus of
the conference. Thailand is the country which has been worst hit
by the currency crisis which started in June. So strong is the
impact of the crisis that Thailand's economic growth is expected
to be drastically reduced. The same tendency will also affect
other countries, including those that have become known as the
"Asian Tigers", although not as severely as Thailand.

What does all this mean? One basic explanation is that
economic growth in itself is not necessarily an indication of a
robust economy. Thailand provides the most concrete example. As
it turned out, the country's impressive economic growth was
easily wiped out by its monetary crisis.

In the case of Thailand, the IMF has offered the country a
US$17.2 billion aid packet. This, however, is only temporary
relief. What is much more important for the future is the degree
to which Thailand, and also the other countries suffering from a
similar crisis, will be able to bring about fundamental
improvements in economic structure.

It is interesting to note that the IMF has called on all
countries to work hard towards establishing clean and transparent
government. A clean government, IMF Managing Director Michel
Camdessus said in a press statement issued Thursday, creates
efficiency and effectiveness in carrying out policies to support
economic growth.

Such appeals may sound like cliches. However, given the lesson
gained from Thailand and from the monetary crisis in other ASEAN
countries, such a call is not exaggerated.

-- Republika, Jakarta