Government's explanation needed
Government's explanation needed
From Neraca
I am a working woman and at the same time a student at a private university. My colleagues and our bosses at the office have been withdrawing their bank deposits and buying daily needs. I followed in their steps.
My brother who is employed in the Sudirman area also has the same story. His friends were involved in panic buying and bought up everything at Goro, Makro and other supermarkets. They are afraid that the government will introduce rupiah devaluation. Strange that this "horrifying" rumor can easily spread and influence most of the community in Jakarta. (I don't know if the same thing has also happened in other cities.)
My aunt, who has just sold her house, has become greatly worried by these rumors. She has also, as a result, withdrawn her deposit, placed it in a government bank, and, for safety's sake, bought U.S. dollars, despite the unreasonably high exchange rate of Rp 11,000/U.S. dollar, because she has not found a suitable piece of land or house to purchase.
Our neighbors, housewives, have of late been fond of gossiping about the U.S. dollar rate hike and the skyrocketing prices of the nine basic commodities, medicine and milk. What's worse, supplies of these commodities are running thin. Carton-packed powdered milk for babies, usually cheaper than tinned powdered milk, disappeared from distribution, while the price of tinned powder milk has increased by almost 200 percent.
Housewives says that our income remains the same while the prices of the domestically produced basic commodities, let alone those of imported goods, have continued to go up. I have heard that at Kramat Jati and Rawamangun, the Jakarta logistics depot sold the nine basic commodities at reduced prices but that they have sold out. Then, where is our economy heading? The crime rate is on the rise because great numbers of people have to be dumped into the ranks of the unemployed.
Deep in my heart I hope that the government will immediately explain to the community what our economic condition is at present. The community is keen to have such information as the position of our trade balance, the magnitude of our imports and exports, the size of our foreign exchange reserves, a realistic strategy to translate into reality the state budget of revenues and expenditures, the position of our offshore loans, the progress in our economic reforms, the aid provided by the IMF and so forth.
However, the government seems to be unperturbed. Please, explain all these things to us, the laymen, so that we will not be confused all the time. At least, the government should consolidate social unity and union in order that the community will continue to have confidence in the rupiah. It can do so by saying "Go to hell US$."
Our fellow countrymen in rural areas do not care a dime about U.S. dollars, do they? What concerns them is only the price of the daily necessities. Please let us have the real situation. We still nurture a deep sense of nationalism. We do not wish to see this country's economy crash into pieces simply because of the greenback or because of what profiteers are doing at the expense of our people. Or, perhaps, there is another solution. Who knows?
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