Saving the banks

In these modern times, banks are at the heart of our economy. If our heart stops functioning, we die. So with banks -- if the banking industry collapses, our economy would be in ruins.

As such, there are rules about how to rescue the banking industry if it stops functioning. There needs to be a financial safety net to prevent the banking industry from becoming illiquid.

With the completion of the tasks of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) on Feb. 27, the central bank and the Finance Ministry will sign a memorandum of understanding on the lender of last-resort program.

We cannot help but fear this program will be misused. The central bank, Bank Indonesia's (BI) liquidity aid (BLBI) case is an example of how a rescue program can be easily manipulated.

Every policy needs rules, requirements and standard operating procedures. However, the most important thing is the people behind the rules.

The emergency bail-out fund comes from the state budget, which is actually the people's money. If the lender of last resort program is misused, the people will suffer and bear the all the costs -- such as in the BLBI case. -- Republika, Jakarta