IMF must share responsibility

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