Ramli vows to maintain IMF program

Ramli vows to maintain IMF program

JAKARTA (JP): Newly appointed Coordinating Minister for
Economic Affairs Rizal Ramli pledged on Wednesday to continue the
International Monetary Fund-sponsored economic reform program.

But Rizal said he would meet with the IMF and other
multilateral institutions, including the World Bank and Asian
Development Bank, to redefine their role in the country.

"Indonesia is a sovereign nation and we still need the
cooperation of multilateral institutions and the support of other
countries in the world to help recover our economy," he told a
media conference at the headquarters of the State Logistics
Agency (Bulog).

Rizal is currently head of the agency.

"But (the relationship) must be based on a respect of our
sovereignty as a nation. I think the IMF management is open to
criticism and inputs," Rizal said at the meeting, held
immediately after the announcement of the new Cabinet lineup.

"I am a pragmatic person and am ready to negotiate and I also
believe that Stanley Fischer (IMF's first deputy managing
director) will be ready to (hold) discussions ... I believe that
we'll reach a better agreement," he said.

"The IMF has experience in macroeconomic and monetary issues.
This is their core competence. But for sectoral development, we
would like to see the World Bank and Asian Development Bank take
a greater role," he added.

The IMF has been criticized for being too deeply involved in
the development of various economic sectors in the country,
including agriculture.

"The World Bank has been too busy with good corporate
governance issues. We want to see the Bank return to its main
role, which is economic development," Rizal said.

Rizal has been a strong critic of the IMF-prescribed economic
program.

The IMF agreed in January to provide President Abdurrahman
Wahid's administration some US$5 billion in loans to help finance
the country's three-year economic reform program.

The IMF has so far disbursed some $730 million in loans and is
to disburse another $400 million later this month if, as is
expected, the Fund's board of directors approves the letter of
intent (LoI) prepared by the previous economic team.

Abdurrahman appointed Rizal on Wednesday replacing Kwik Kian
Gie.

He is known as a close confidant of the President and
previously chaired the Econit Advisory Group, a leading privately
owned think tank.

The rupiah tumbled to around Rp 8,365 per U.S. dollar in late
trading on Wednesday following the announcement of the new
Cabinet.

But Rizal played down the weakening of the rupiah, saying it
was temporary.

"If the economic team can later prove that it can work in
harmony, the negative perception will disappear," Rizal said.

He also expressed confidence that the new economic ministers
would form a solid team.

"I'm confident that this will be a solid team because I know
them personally," he said.

The previous economic team was criticized for its poor
performance and ineffectiveness.

Rizal said that the new economic team would start work on
Monday. It is due to be sworn in on Saturday.

Asked about the fate of the Master of Settlement and
Acquisition Agreement (MSAA), he said that he would continue the
policy of his predecessor and wait for the results of the House
of Representatives' special team.

The MSAA is an agreement signed by the previous administration
of B.J. Habibie with several of the country's influential bank
owners to repay their banks' debts to the government. Under the
agreement, the former bank owners pledged various assets to repay
their debts.

Kwik initially proposed to review the agreement, saying its
implementation would cause the state to suffer huge losses
because of the deteriorating value of the banks' assets. (rei/10)