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)