Draft state budget on the right track

On the whole, the draft state budget reflects the government's concern over the present protracted crisis. Still, the government remains confident that it can finance the strategies, even though it will have to resort to funds derived from foreign aid.

One important note regarding this budget concerns the assumed average rate of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar. By setting it at Rp 4,000 the government will have to strive hard to strengthen the position of the rupiah.

On the other hand, this figure demonstrates the government's confidence that the monetary upheaval can be brought to an end this year.

We hope this will be true because with an inflation rate of 11.05 percent the present crisis has already affected people's incomes. This (estimated) rate has also shattered our record of having kept inflation under 10 percent.

We have all the more reason to be concerned as other Southeast Asian countries have been able to keep the rate more or less at the same level as last year, despite the fact that they too are being hit by the crisis.

The most important thing for the government to do in these difficult times is to maintain its caution and discipline in managing the budget. Leaks must be kept to a minimum and the government must not hesitate to take stern measures against erring officials.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta