Continued growth

Aside from its egalitarian disposition, what other attributes characterize our 1997/1998 draft state budget? One of those traits, as Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad remarked, is its contractionary nature. The 1997/1998 draft budget will be drawing on more funds from the public than it will be funneling into the economy. The public money will come mainly from taxes.

A conservative and prudent budget may indicate how the government will manage the economy in the year ahead. Will the economy thus contract? We are convinced that as long as a conducive climate can be maintained the economic wheel will continue to turn smoothly.

A tight budget is not likely to impede growth as the state budget no longer has the same effect on our economy as it once did. The private sector has become a more dominant factor in determining economic growth, which should continue apace if this sector is given more leeway

-- Kompas, Jakarta