Strengthening rupiah brings fresh hope

Strengthening rupiah brings fresh hope

Indonesian businessmen are at present seeing a glimmer of hope in the strengthening trend of our national economy. Hope has been bolstered with the strengthening of the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar, which (on Tuesday) broke through the psychological barrier of Rp 6,500 to the dollar -- a record high since the onset of the economic crisis.

For the real sector, this trend of a strengthening economy should be a spur to perform, as in the days before the crisis began to wreak havoc in our lives. If capital isn't enough to restart the wheels of business, then at least we could begin by taking the necessary steps in that direction so that work can be started as soon as the money becomes available.

For the government, steps must be taken to make sure that no distortions will interfere with the natural course of developments. Government officials should avoid making statements that could affect the market.

We hope that the glimmer of hope that is beginning to shine on us at present will not again be doused. If that should happen, the suffering which we will have to endure could well be much worse than what we have experienced so far.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta