U.S. sees possibilities and real risks in RI

U.S. sees possibilities and real risks in RI

VIENNA (Reuters): U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers yesterday said the current situation in Indonesia contained real possibilities but also real risks.

"We see it as a moment of real possibility but also as a moment of real risk," he told an international monetary conference in Vienna

The United States was prepared to support the efforts of international financial organizations to help Indonesia but financial support must carry conditions to ensure it was used effectively.

Resolution of Indonesia's corporate debt problems would be a crucial complement to international support, Summers said.

Renewing the U.S. call for political reform and a more open economy, Summers said it was very difficult to predict future political developments in Indonesia but its people were right to want "very profound change to what has happened in the past".

Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund's First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer told Japan's Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga in Tokyo yesterday that the IMF was encouraged by Indonesia's willingness to carry out reforms.

An official of Japan's Finance Ministry told reporters yesterday that the IMF supported Japan's efforts to help Indonesia deal with its economic crisis.

Asked if there was any mention of what the fund plans to do to give further help to Indonesia, the official said it was possible the IMF would send a mission if it were needed but added that Fischer did not mention such a mission during the meeting with Matsunaga.

Matsunaga told Fischer that there was a need to continue support to Indonesia, the official said without elaborating.