Habibie backs Radius' task force appointment

Habibie backs Radius' task force appointment

JAKARTA (JP): A senior cabinet minister lauded yesterday
former finance minister Radius Prawiro's appointment as head of a
task force to help private sector companies settle their mounting
debts.

State Minister of Research and Technology, B.J. Habibie, said
President Soeharto's decision to assign Radius was wise and
correct.

"We have no doubts about Radius Prawiro's experience and
reputation," Habibie told reporters after attending the launch of
a biography of a former chairman of the state-owned Securities
Paper and Mint Printing Company (Perum Peruri), Soebono
Mantofani.

He said that Radius was one of the catalysts in the success of
the Indonesian economy, and could rationally and objectively help
alleviate the private sector's debt burden.

Radius Prawiro was assigned last week to head a task force to
assist the private sector negotiate payment of its mounting
offshore debts.

The task force includes the chief executive officer of the
Salim Group, Anthony Salim; the chairman of the Argo Manunggal
Group, The Nin King; and the chief of the Gobel electronics
group, Rachmat Gobel.

Radius was minister of finance from 1983 to 1988 and
coordinating minister for economy and finance from 1988 to 1993.

Asked about the impact of appointing a non-cabinet member to
help settle the economic crisis, Habibie said it would not
influence the cabinet.

"We all live under one big Indonesia Corporation," he said.
"You (journalists) should think this decision as one made to
safeguard the country's economy."

Politician Megawati Soekarnoputri called on all elements in
society yesterday to cooperate shoulder-to-shoulder to settle the
monetary crisis.

"The monetary crisis should not be considered merely a
government problem," she said after attending a seminar on
political and economic reform held by alumni of the Nationalist
Students Movement.

"The crisis is multidimensional and needs multidimensional
efforts, involving all elements in society from all walks of
life," she said.

Megawati, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
Party, also called for transparency and seriousness from the
government in handling the crisis.

"Many observers have described the current monetary crisis as
a total crisis," she said. "Therefore, the government should be
consistent and have the moral courage to transparently disclose
the real problem and the steps it will take (to address
it)."

Megawati has recently issued a year-end remarks saying she had
deliberately kept quiet in the past few months to give the
government and the Armed Forces the opportunity to solve various
problems, including the ongoing monetary crisis.

"Had an end to the monetary crisis been guaranteed, including
ways to improve our economy and save it from being crippled, I
might have chosen to keep on being silent... even though it pains
me," she said. (imn)