Doubts about the IMF

Doubts about the IMF

According to our records, in the nine months that it has been
involved (in assisting Indonesia), the International Monetary
Fund has released US$1 billion of a total of $43 billion it has
committed to provide. This represents a most painful delay.

Since the money has so far been unable to relieve our economic
crisis, it is only natural that doubts have begun to emerge: The
IMF may no longer be a part of the solution (to the crisis), but
may have become a part of the problem itself.

Without in any way detracting from our appreciation of the
persistent efforts being made by the IMF director for Asia-
Pacific, Hubert Neiss, who has been traveling back and forth
between Jakarta and Washington, we must point to the fact that
every time an IMF delegation comes to Jakarta, the value of our
currency starts fluctuating, the main reason being the statements
that disbursement of the money will be delayed.

It must be admitted that the political and economic situation
has been changing so rapidly in this country that every
assumption made so far has been proven wrong. However, the
constant delays in the disbursement of funds have also
considerably helped to aggravate the Indonesian crisis.

This time, even as people were hoping that Neiss would be
announcing a speeding up of the assistance, the remarks he made
have aggravated the prevailing sense of pessimism. Neiss said he
was not sure that the money could be disbursed by the beginning
of July. A disappointed market immediately sent the rupiah
tumbling to a low of Rp 15,000 to the U.S. dollar.

One particular attitude on the part of the IMF needs
correcting. As a doctor, the IMF is not wholeheartedly treating
Indonesia as a patient. Rather, it is treating Indonesia as a
patient tainted by sins. Because of this, it is no wonder that it
is prescribing for Indonesia a medicine that is too strong for
the disease this country is suffering.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta