Restructuring not finished: Prijadi

Restructuring not finished: Prijadi

PRAGUE (DPA): Indonesian Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo said Monday in Prague that while the East Asian economic recovery is well underway, the process of restructuring in several countries is not finished.

Speaking for the Southeast Asia Group at the Development Committee of the World Bank, he noted that the overall global outlook points to growth, but that risks remained.

"In East Asia we are beginning to observe that the economic recovery has begun to move beyond the susceptible stage, even though in several countries crucial corporate and financial restructuring efforts have yet to be completed," Praptosuhardjo said.

The Indonesian minister said that amid conditions pointing to stronger growth around the world, "significant risks" and "wide disparities" among various regions were still evident.

"For the developing countries, continuous and steady growth of major industrial countries, particularly the United States, and the return of world oil prices to its normal level are especially critical for their economic prospects in the short to medium terms," he said.

The remark about returning oil prices to a normal level echoes the call made the day before by the International Monetary and Finance Committee, which said both oil producers and consumers would work to stabilize oil markets. Indonesia is a major oil producing country.