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.