Tangerang gives IMF new meaning

TANGERANG (JP): Although remaining popular for bailing Indonesia out of its economic abyss, the IMF has a new meaning in the mayoralty.

Bureaucrats and impoverished citizens have jestingly used the acronym to stand for Irit, Murah, Faedah (economical, cheap, useful), instead of the International Monetary Fund, as labels on cheap meals for the poor attest.

The "local" IMF gained popularity Tuesday as mayoralty officials distributed 1,600 packaged meals to blue-collar workers, jobless people and poor citizens in 19 subdistricts on Tuesday.

An "IMF meal", as locals call it, sold for Rp 500 (62 U.S. cents), with the government subsidizing each meal by Rp 300. In a food stall, a meal of the same contents costs about Rp 1,200, recipients say.

Aimed at relieving the hardships faced by the poor due to the economic crisis, a packaged meal consists of rice, fried fish, a vegetable dish, tofu and tempeh.

Mayoralty officials go to villages and sell IMF meals every Wednesday and Sunday, Antara said. (pan)