Our central bank's credibility

Our central bank's credibility

Three former directors of Bank Indonesia are at present being
questioned by the police. This is a rather sensational piece of
news because it has been barely a week since they were dismissed
from their positions.

According to police sources, the three were being questioned
on suspicion of collusion involving huge amounts of money. Those
suspicions were reportedly based on information obtained during
the investigation of several private bankers who were arrested on
suspicion of having been engaged in activities which resulted in
a loss totaling hundreds of billions of rupiah to the state.

We laud the authorities concerned for having taken such firm
action. The truth is that rumors -- as well as numerous
photocopies of rather exhaustive documents -- have lately been
circulating which insinuated that cases of corruption and
collusion have occurred at Bank Indonesia. We hope that the
arrest of the three former BI directors constitutes a signal that
this whole case is going to be thoroughly investigated.

The credibility of Bank Indonesia as a national monetary
authority is of strategic importance. The higher BI's credibility
rating, the more stable Indonesia's monetary situation will be.
The restoration of Bank Indonesia's credibility is therefore an
absolute necessity for the recovery of our national economy,
which is at present struggling under a monetary crisis.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta