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ewly-appointed chair of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen has given the nod to emerging economies'€™ request for better communication on the future direction of US monetary policy, according to Finance Minister Chatib Basri.

Going forward, emerging markets should pay close attention to US unemployment data, which would be used as a benchmark for the Fed in determining its interest rate adjustment, Chatib said on Wednesday, in reference to his conversation with Yellen last week on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Washington, US.

'€œWe have discussed the issue [of better monetary policy coordination] and Yellen told us to look at developments of its labor market,'€ Chatib said.

'€œIf US unemployment falls below 6.5 percent, then the interest rate in the US will be increased,'€ he added, quoting Yellen.

That was a shift in the Fed'€™s monetary stance, with the US central bank stating in the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in January that its interest rate, which is currently set in the range of between 0 and 0.25 percent, would stay low, even in the event that unemployment rate declined below its target of 6.5 percent.

The Fed has been under the spotlight for rebuffing calls uttered by emerging economies demanding better coordination and transparency in its monetary policy, with its moves blamed for the latest shocks in the global financial market.

The Fed has '€œa mandate to concern ourselves with the interest of the United States'€ and other emerging economies '€œsimply have to take that as a reality and adjust to us'€, Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, said in December as quoted by Bloomberg.

Such a standpoint was met with heavy criticism, including from Indian central bank Governor Raghuran Rajan, who is a former chief economist with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In January, he argued that international monetary policy coordination '€œhad broken down'€ and lashed out on central bankers who '€œwashed their hands'€ in the latest shocks engulfing emerging markets.

Responding to such criticisms, finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 economies agreed '€œto provide clear and timely communication of our actions and be mindful of impacts on the global economy as policy settings are recalibrated'€, the G20 communiqué, which was released last week, said.

'€œAt least we now already have a benchmark [for direction of US monetary policy], which is the development in the US labor market. We'€™re quite happy with that,'€ said Chatib, who predicted that the Fed Funds rate would be increased beginning next year.

Nevertheless, Indonesia should be more prepared for a tighter global liquidity environment, thanks to the country'€™s improving economic fundamentals, he said.

Indonesia'€™s economy, the largest in Southeast Asia, is expected to grow by up to 6 percent this year from 5.78 percent last year on the back of stronger consumption, exports and investment.

Last year, the weak rupiah had undermined consumption in the domestic consumption-reliant economy as imported products became more unaffordable.

Weak exports amid slow global demand have also contributed to sell-offs in the financial market and pressures on the nation'€™s current account deficit last year.

Chatib has predicted that Indonesia'€™s current account deficit '€” the major worry among foreign investors in 2013 '€” could fall below 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of this year.