RI briefs IMF panel on central bank law

RI briefs IMF panel on central bank law

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian officials on Saturday briefed an
International Monetary Fund's (IMF) panel on the necessity of
amendments to the central bank law, stressing that it should not
be a "conditionality" on the disbursement of the next tranche of
IMF loans.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman on Saturday evening told The
Jakarta Post that he had just attended a meeting earlier in the
day with the expert panel to brief them "on the need for change"
in relation to the central bank law.

"We appealed to them that these measures were very important
in the perception of the Indonesian public," he said.

Marzuki added that he also augured the team on the need to
avoid a feeling that the IMF might be "an obstacle in good
governance in Indonesia."

Deliberations at the House of Representatives on proposed
amendments to Central Bank Law No 23/1999 was last month
postponed pending the consultation with the IMF team.

The IMF has expressed concern over the draft amendments which
may result in stripping away Bank Indonesia's independence,
suggesting that political interference in the bank's monetary
policies could jeopardize macroeconomic management.

Marzuki, who during the meeting with the four-man IMF team was
accompanied was by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal
Ramli, underlined that the question of the amendments "must not
be some sort of conditionality for the IMF to release funds."

The IMF expert panel team consists of former Chilean Central
Bank governor Roberto Zahler, former New Zealand Central Bank
governor Donald T. Brash, former Bank Indonesia director Boediono
and Indonesian banking law expert Sutan Remy Syahdeni.

According to Marzuki this was the second meeting held since
Thursday. (mds)