Mar'ie and Rubin discuss RI's IMF package

Mar'ie and Rubin discuss RI's IMF package

WASHINGTON (AP): U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Indonesian Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad on Thursday discussed implementation of a US$23 billion rescue package the IMF arranged for Indonesia in October.

"The minister expressed his recognition of the central importance of Indonesian policy commitments and carrying them through," a Treasury spokeswoman said.

Mar'ie gave U.S. businessmen a similar message at a meeting Wednesday at the Indonesian embassy and heads to New York Friday to meet financial leaders.

The finance minister said the government would not backtrack on reforms in an attempt to boost the Indonesian economy, pledging instead to continue with the agenda set by the International Monetary Fund, according to the account provided by the participant, who declined to be identified.

a Treasury spokeswoman said that the Indonesian minister expressed his recognition of the central importance of Indonesian policy commitments and carrying them through.

As Asian economies ran into difficulties this summer, the IMF arranged rescue packages for Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.

Rubin also called on South Korea Thursday to implement the reforms it agreed upon last week in exchange for a $57 billion international bailout.

"They have taken a number of very important measures and they have a lot to do and that's the process that's under way," Rubin said while posing for photographers at the start of a meeting with the Indonesian finance minister.

Earlier Thursday, South Korea's lame-duck president, Kim Young-sam, and his finance minister tried to reassure investors their nation will stick by its deal with the International Monetary Fund, whatever the pain.

Their assurances came as South Korea's currency and stock market continued to plummet on concerns that the austerity measures included in the record IMF rescue will bring more bankruptcies, the loss of up to a million jobs, higher taxes and labor strife.

Investor fears have been heightened by statements from two of the three leading candidates in South Korea's presidential election next Thursday that they would try to renegotiate the IMF agreement if they win.

Asked if he was worried about the possibility of Korea defaulting, Rubin said, "They've got a strong program with the IMF, and I think that the key is for them to implement that program and implement it effectively."

"That's the process we're all discussing with Korea right now," he said.

South Korean Finance Minister Lim Chang-yuel said in a New York Times interview Tuesday that Korea would like the United States and Japan to speed up the provision of money the countries have earmarked as back-up assistance should IMF lending prove inadequate.

But Rubin told reporters a request for a short-term loan from Korea had not reached his desk and side-stepped the question of whether the United States would consider one.

He repeated that Korean implementation of the IMF program was "the absolute key to ... re-establishing confidence in the financial market."

"They've taken important steps but there's a lot that remains to be done and that is the key to success," he said. Korea's currency, the won, dropped 10 percent Thursday - the maximum permitted by the nation's financial regulators. Stocks fell 5.6 percent.