Good level-headed advice

Good level-headed advice

Every time our country was hit by crisis in the past, our late
(vice president) Adam Malik had an excellent piece of advice for
Indonesians: "Our hearts may be boiling over, but our heads must
remain cool". This piece of advice should resonate in our minds
every time we read or watch foreign media reports about our
current crisis.

Take, for example, a widening assumption that the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is dictating terms to
Indonesia, or that it is against the implementation of a currency
board system. In reality, the agreement reached between Indonesia
and the IMF merely contains points that have been suggested by
Indonesia's own economic experts for a long time, with IMF
experts functioning more as providers of second opinions. The IMF
also has never said it was against a currency board. From the
very beginning, it has held the opinion that the Indonesian
economy could be rescued by other, less risky means.

We hope that the conclusion of the People's Consultative
Assembly's General Session and the formation of a new cabinet
will soon enable a smooth communication between the government
and multilateral institutions such as the IMF and donor
countries. Any negative impacts created by speculation could thus
be minimized.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta