S'pore says RI recovery long way off

S'pore says RI recovery long way off

SINGAPORE (AP): Singapore's deputy prime minister expects
neighboring Indonesia to face a long, hard recovery from its
worst economic crisis in decades, according to a magazine
interview published in The Sunday Times newspaper.

Lee Hsien Loong said that "perhaps Indonesia will pick up in
four or five years" depending on domestic and regional
circumstances, such as whether governments will be able to make
difficult reforms and how people react to these changes.

"But if the governments cannot do what is necessary, then we
are in for some period of uncertainty" in Indonesia and
throughout the region, said Lee, who also heads Singapore's de
facto central bank.

The newspaper quoted from his interview with World Link
magazine, the official publication of the World Economic Forum,
in the upcoming July/August edition.

Indonesia has been hardest hit by Asia's financial and
economic crisis.

Its currency has fallen 70 percent in value over the past
year, while financial institutions and many businesses have
become insolvent.

Aid workers have warned recently that tens of millions of
people are becoming impoverished in the world's fourth most
populous country.

In May, widespread social unrest sparked by price increases
for basic commodities led to the resignation of Asia's longest
ruling leader -- former President Soeharto -- and his replacement
by B.J. Habibie.

Earlier this month, Habibie called on Indonesia's 200 million
people to fast twice a week as rice supplies -- damaged by
droughts over the past year -- continue to dwindle.

The International Monetary Fund is organizing a US$43 billion
bailout package for the country, but has tied the aid to economic
and financial reforms.