Govt policies benefit big businesses

GARUT, West Java: People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais has criticized government policies, saying they only benefit big businesses and damage the economy.

"Many small companies are surviving during the economic crisis without any help from the government," Amien was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday while visiting a toffee factory in the West Java town of Garut.

On the other hand, he said, large businesses, which had received huge funding from the government, were hardly surviving and had even worsened the economic crisis, he claimed.

"It is unfortunate that the government's economic policies have yet to be changed. They continue to favor conglomerates instead of small-scale businesses," the MPR speaker said.

Amien, also chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), urged the government to pay more attention to the development of small businesses that did not rely on foreign loans. -- Antara