Miranda must work closely with her boss: Observers

Miranda must work closely with her boss: Observers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Miranda S. Goeltom, the newly elected Bank Indonesia senior
deputy governor, must be able to demonstrate the ability to
coordinate with other members of the board of governors to help
ensure the central bank's credibility remains intact.

With Bank Indonesia's credibility being put severely to the
test at the moment by the tumult engulfing the rupiah, a failure
to work effectively as a team, especially with governor
Burhanuddin Abdullah, would be the last thing the market needed,
analysts said on Wednesday.

Miranda was one of the candidates who lost out to Burhanuddin
in the selection process for the central bank governor last year
-- which has given rise to suggestions that the two market-
friendly figures might find it difficult to get along and work
together.

"She will have to have good chemistry with the BI governor as
otherwise there would be a twin leadership within the central
bank, which would be detrimental to the central bank as the
highest authority in setting monetary policy," said Dradjat
Wibowo of the Institute for the Development of Economics and
Finance (Indef).

"She has to realize that now she holds the second highest post
in BI -- not the highest, which is usually hard to accept," he
added.

Miranda pipped two other candidates on Tuesday evening; Budi
Rochadi (head of the central bank's representative office in
Tokyo) and Hartadi A. Sarwono (a deputy governor of BI), to
replace current senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution, whose
five-year term ends on July 17.

The markets in general will likely welcome Miranda's selection
given her proven deep experience of monetary issues having been
involved in the decision-making circle on monetary and banking
policies at the central bank since 1997, when she first became a
director.

She was a deputy governor when she put herself forward for the
BI governor's post.

However, while her expertise and experience are convincing, it
is possible rivalry with Burhanuddin that has cast some doubt
over the prospects of the two working together.

However Raden Pardede, Danareksa Research Institute director,
brushed aside the concerns, saying that both Miranda and
Burhanuddin were true professionals who would not let themselves
be trapped by such narrow-minded attitudes

"Miranda has long been a part of BI, we should not tell her
what to do on the job. She is a professional, she knows how to do
her job," Raden said in an interview on MetroTV television on
Wednesday.

"But, there should be clearer job descriptions for both the BI
governor and senior deputy governor to avoid confusion and
overlapping of jurisdictions," Raden said.

Top banker Rudjito also stressed the importance of sound
coordination among top officials in the central bank, especially
now that the local currency was struggling to keep its head above
water.

"The most important thing is to closely work together with
other members of the board of governors in safeguarding monetary
stability, which is currently under threat with the decline in
the rupiah," said Rudjito, who is also the chairman of
Association of State Banks.