Indonesian president calls for close monitoring of foreign capital inflow

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked his economic ministers to closely monitor the flow of foreign capital into Indonesia and properly manage the funds for the improvement of the country's economic conditions.

"The President has asked all (economic ministers) to closely follow it (foreign funds inflow) and manage it properly so that it can help improve the economy, especially in the real sector," presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng said here on Monday.

Yudhoyono also asked the governor of Bank Indonesia (central bank) to closely monitor the foreign capital inflow and at the same time strengthen the economic fundamentals which were currently much stronger than that during the 1997 economic crisis, he said.

Andi said the current national economic fundamentals were very different from those in 1997 although capital inflow conditions were similar to those when the crisis occurred in 1997 as hinted by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Boediono, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah in their recent statements.

"The fundamentals of our economy are stronger viewed from some indicators such as foreign exchange reserves, export value, rupiah currency rate, the ratio of our foreign debts toward foreign exchange reserves, and economic growth which is good, too. We have also learned a lot from our past experiences, especially those during the crisis," the presidential spokesman said.

Andi said, the president was also convinced that there was nothing to be worried about the current economic situation as it would not lead to an economic crisis because national economic conditions and management were much better and stronger than in the past.

Recently, Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the world economy was now in a situation similar to that prevailing before the crisis 10 years ago so there was need for readiness to face a sudden global economic upheaval.

Source: Xinhua