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