Purbaya: No fear of an economic crisis repeating itself

Jakarta — Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stressed that the government does not fear a recurrence of an economic crisis in Indonesia. After attending a limited meeting at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Friday, he said Indonesia’s current economic fundamentals are very strong. He noted that the present conditions are very different from 1998 when the rupiah weakened drastically from around Rp2,000 per US dollar to around Rp17,000 per US dollar. The depreciation now stands at about 4-5 percent, which is far from 1998. He said the pressures on the rupiah recently have been driven more by market perceptions than by national economic fundamentals. According to him, Indonesia is currently facing external pressures from MSCI assessments, rating agencies, and exchange-rate movements. ‘If we look at it now, there are relentless attacks on us: MSCI, then rating agencies, then exchange-rate movements. But in terms of fundamentals there is no problem. So we will improve our approach, perhaps, we will socialise our achievements to the public,’ he said. The meeting was also attended by several senior figures who had previously been involved in addressing past economic crises, including a former Governor of Bank Indonesia and officials from the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas. The meeting aimed to absorb experiences and inputs related to handling past economic crises. All inputs from these senior figures have been recorded and will be studied further as material for evaluation and anticipating the government’s actions going forward. ‘Sharing knowledge on how to handle crises in 2007-2008 and earlier. That’s what we learn from them. I have noted it; I have been instructed to study it; yes, we will study,’ Purbaya added.