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