Minister of Finance Boediono has hinted that the Indonesian

Minister of Finance Boediono has hinted that the Indonesian economy is heading for recovery, meaning that the country has been freed from crisis.

Is the statement correct? Not completely.

Many people are still living under economic uncertainty and unemployment is increasing. The Bali bombings have also contributed to the national economic chaos.

Expectations that the national economic growth will hit below 4 percent this year may indicate that our economy is entering the recovery phase. Previously, the government expected a higher economic growth, but the facts regarding poor investments and exports obviously made the government more realistic.

Foreign buyers have looked to other countries for the purchase of several commodities, including textile and textile products, electronic goods and shoes, as buyers are worried that Indonesia would fail to meet delivery dates due to labor-related problems.

To speed up the recovery of the economy, the government must first recover tourism. Tourism impacts many businesses. The Bali bombings, for example, have practically destroyed the East Nusa Tenggara textile business, which were usually marketed in Kuta, the very spot devastated by the bombs.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta

The holidays

The government has decided its national holidays in 2003 and has also officially extended the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays of 2002.

The idea to extend the holidays was to help recover the tourism industry in the wake of the Bali bombings. Given more holidays, domestic tourists are expected to have more time to visit tourist destinations. Although it is obvious that not all civil servants can afford such excursions with their families, more than two million civil servants affect the industry during the holidays. Just this week, the hotel occupancy rate in Bali has climbed back up to about 50 percent, whereas it was only around 15 percent from mid-October to early November.

The new holidays also mean efficiency, as holidays inevitably reduce the use of electricity and the telephone, and everything related to operational costs, including meal and transportation allowances.

Tragedy is sometimes a blessing in disguise, or so we regard the government's holiday extensions after the Bali tragedy.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta