People told to suport economic rescue
People told to suport economic rescue
JAKARTA (JP): Calls mounted yesterday for people to remain
calm and take action to support the government's economic rescue
package as the rupiah continued to dive to another low.
Businesswoman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Golkar legislator
Theo Sambuaga asked the people to keep their faith in the rupiah
and change their U.S. dollars into rupiah if necessary.
"Let's stop the dollar buying spree. Whoever we are, we have
to show our love for our own currency, including releasing our
dollars," said Hardiyanti, President Soeharto's eldest daughter,
on the sidelines of the People's Consultative Assembly.
The rupiah surpassed its weakest rate ever of 10,000 against
the U.S. dollar yesterday, inciting some people to rush to
supermarkets to stock up on food and other goods in apparent
concern of a huge price hike.
Hardiyanti, better known as Mbak Tutut, said public confidence
in the rupiah would play a pivotal role in settling the crisis,
other than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package.
"Without such self-confidence, it's difficult for us to cope
with the crisis," she said.
But she refuted that government officials or public figures
have to initiate the move to change their dollars into rupiah.
"Don't wait for other people. The movement must be conducted
by all of us," she said.
Theo, chairman of the Golkar faction in the House of
Representatives, agreed. He said selling dollars was a reasonable
way to show confidence in the rupiah.
However, he said nobody could be forced to change their
dollars into rupiah, because it was everybody's right to deposit
their money in their favorite currencies.
"I just call on people who keep money in the U.S. dollar to
sell it. They can agree or disagree to this suggestion," he said.
He said that under such a tight monetary policy, people should
also use local goods rather than imported ones, saying that it
would not only boost domestic industries but also curb imports.
He predicted that the drastic fall of the rupiah would be
short-lived, because it represented an excessive response to the
government's decision to base the draft 1998/1999 state budget at
a rupiah exchange rate of Rp 4,000 against the U.S. dollar.
Calm
Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief of Sociopolitical Affairs, Lt. Gen.
Yunus Yosfiah, called on the people yesterday not to panic in
responding to the monetary crisis now jolting the Southeast Asian
region, including Indonesia.
"It is easy to say, but people must have faith that the
government is doing its best to settle the crisis," he told
reporters at the Armed Forces' headquarters.
He called on the people not to be easily influenced by the
rumors, which would only lead to panic.
He said the rapid dissemination of such rumors indicated that
certain groups in society were deliberately making the situation
worse.
"We have told the people several times to increase their
alertness, but without being too suspicious," he said.
The government-backed chairman of the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) Soerjadi said yesterday that people should stop
spending their money on unnecessary things, avoid living in
luxury and be disciplined in their individual budget.
He said the government should focus all its energy on
regaining people's confidence in its policies to restore the
economy.
He also called on the government to be more serious in
establishing a clean and good governance.
"Otherwise, the people will never trust its policies anymore,"
he told reporters after the meeting. (imn/amd)