The threat to our economy

The threat to our economy

Bank Indonesia Governor Syahril Sabirin visited Washington D.C. recently to lobby the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for speedy disbursement of financial aid to Indonesia. It seems, however, that his effort was ineffective. Both those international financial institutions remained steadfast in their insistence on a full and transparent disclosure soon of the Bank Bali scandal. They also insisted that the unabridged audit report of PricewaterhouseCoopers regarding the case must be made public forthwith.

Managing Indonesia's economy is not an easy job, with mostly internal factors hampering effective measures. Lack of political will on the part of our authorities to set aside their narrow interests aside for the nation's sake is a major reason of the decline of the Habibie administration's credibility at present.

It does not end there. The Attorney General's Office's discontinuation of its probe into suspected acts of malfeasance in a number of foundations connected to former president Soeharto poses a huge challenge to President B.J. Habibie as a presidential candidate.

All these issues have a great influence on Indonesia's social, political and economic conditions. For this reason concrete steps are needed to revive our economy and restructure our banking system. Our people need proof, not mere promises or lip service.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta