IMF must share responsibility

It has been more than seven days since the Indonesian government signed a letter of intent with the International Monetary Fund. At that time, people hoped that the crisis would soon end, or at the very least, that the value of the dollar would stop skyrocketing.

What happened? Yesterday (Thursday), the value of the dollar reached the absurd level of Rp 15,000. The bitter pill which we have swallowed has seemingly proven to be totally ineffective. We are still an easy target for speculators in the money market, unable to defend ourselves.

The IMF, meanwhile, does not seem to care. All they are saying is: The market is waiting for proof of Indonesia's commitment. When all commitments are met, the situation will improve. But how long will that take? A process is needed to implement all those commitments and that may take time. And while the program is being executed, no one can say what is going to happen. Things could get better, but it is also very possible that the situation could turn worse.

We are not asking for the impossible from the IMF. We are only asking to get what we are entitled to after having given so much ourselves. Nor are we standing idly by. We have already done much and will continue to do much. At present, however, we are acting with uncertainty because we do not know whether our actions will yield the results hoped for.

At the same time we also know for certain that the market cannot be appeased by economic formulas alone. Other factors are at play as well. One of them consists of political interests -- whether those of developed countries or of groups, each with its own respective goal.

The question now is, what goal does the IMF actually want to achieve from its reform package?

-- Republika, Jakarta