Indonesia: WB/IMF shouldn't meddle in E.TImor

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Dow Jones Newswires
September 9, 1999
Indonesia Ginandjar: "Most Concerned" About Rupiah Fall
AUCKLAND -- Indonesia's senior economics minister, Ginandjar Kartasasmita,
said Thursday he is "most concerned" about the recent fall in the value of
the rupiah.
But he said that market participants are "overreacting" to recent events in
East Timor and that the rupiah will recover once the situation in the
Indonesian province is resolved.
In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Ginandjar also said the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank should ignore the situation in
East Timor and "shouldn't get involved in politics.
"The IMF and the World Bank have no business in East Timor," he said.
Ginandjar said he had just met with a Jakarta-based representative from the
World Bank and had told him strongly that the World Bank and IMF should
stay
out of politics. Both institutions have said they are very concerned by the
situation in East Timor and may withhold loans if it doesn't improve soon.
"I told them that they are not well informed," Ginandjar said. "They are
setting the wrong precedent for the future.
"The instigators of this (move by the IMF and World Bank) are playing with
fire," he said, but added that he didn't know who the instigators are.
"I'm not saying that the international community has no right to be
concerned
on the situation in East Timor, they have every right," he said. "But there
is a forum for that, the forum is the United Nations, not the IMF and the
World Bank."
Ginandjar said he didn't know whether an IMF mission scheduled for
September
will go ahead. "I didn't hear from them directly," he said.
But he added that if the economic recovery program currently underway under
the auspices of the IMF and World Bank fails then it is the IMF that
"should
be seen as responsible for that."
"It would be a pity if all this (aid) comes to nothing," Indonesia's senior
economics minister said.
On continuing rumors that Indonesian President B.J. Habibie will resign or
be
forced out, Ginandjar said, "there is not going to be any coup in
Indonesia.
"A coup d'etat can only be undertaken by the military and our military have
no history of coup d'etat," he reiterated. "The government is in full
control."
Ginandjar said the rumors of the coup are feeding on themselves.
He also said that he had just spoken to government sources in Jakarta who
said the situation in East Timor is improving.
"Things are improving there in Dili," he said. Although "you can't say it's
already normal."
He said the government had been surprised by the level of violence in the
province given that the vote for independence was so high. "We are so
surprised that this whole thing happened."
-By Iain McDonald; 64-21-645-512;
iain.mcdonald@dowjones.com