BPIS won't reschedule projects

BPIS won't reschedule projects

JAKARTA (JP): The Management Board of Strategic Industries (BPIS)
has no plan to reschedule its industrial projects despite the
rupiah's sharp drop against the U.S. dollar, the board's chairman
B.J. Habibie said here yesterday.

Habibie, also State Minister of Research and Technology, said
the rupiah's depreciation would not cause the rescheduling of the
board's strategic industrial projects.

He said the strategic industrial projects were long-term,
while the ongoing monetary problem was temporary.

"What we are currently experiencing is like a sudden wind
storm that is not likely to last," he told journalists following
a meeting with President Soeharto.

In the state of the nation address last week, Soeharto called
on the government and businesses to review their investment
projects and determine which should be given top priority and
which should be postponed, in view of the current currency
uncertainties.

The rupiah depreciated dramatically against the U.S. dollar
after the central bank removed the currency's intervention
band.

The rupiah has depreciated more than 20 percent against the
dollar since January, with more than half of the drop taking
place in the last three weeks due to speculative attacks from
fund managers.

Habibie said the monetary situation was worsened by people's
hysteria. Everyone from speculators to consumers went into a
dollar-buying frenzy to profit from the strengthening greenback,
he said.

"As an industrialist, I see no reason to panic, as it would
only worsen our economy," he said.

President Soeharto had instructed him to head the board's
short, middle, and long-term projects, he said.

Long-term projects such as the N-250 aircraft, for example,
would be used to raise the country's foreign exchange earnings.

He said the board, which oversees 10 large industrial
companies including the IPTN aircraft maker and Krakatau Steel,
the country's largest steel producer, had consolidated and
restructured recently to improve its efficiency and productivity.
(das)