Doubts on budget targets: The rupiah's timid move upward may be

Doubts on budget targets: The rupiah's timid move upward may be hit by heightened concerns of this year's privatization and asset sales targets in the state budget, as a shortfall in these revenues could dash hopes for foreign investment replenishing the thin dollar supply here, according to one local analyst. Head of debt income at PT Vickers Ballas Indonesia Wiwan Wiradjaja said the concerns stemmed mainly from the signs that a planned sale of cement maker PT Semen Gresik and PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) this year may run aground. -- Page 17

India criticizes WTO: India sharply criticized the World Trade Organization here Saturday, accusing it of ignoring the needs of poor countries and badgering them to take positions against their will. In a strong, blunt language, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Murasoli Maran charged that a draft declaration before WTO ministers meeting here was "neither fair nor just to the viewpoints of many developing countries, including my own, on certain key issues." -- Page 18