Although the announcement of the Cabinet reshuffle failed to halt declines in the rupiah and share prices, businesspeople have high hopes that the change will lead to smoother coordination in coping with the country'€™s economic mess.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo ushered in on Wednesday veterans with stern and uncompromising characters in their respective fields to better coordinate the ministers under his wings following a wave of criticism on the performance of his Cabinet.

In the Cabinet reshuffle, which was done just 10 months after he took office, former Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Darmin Nasution was appointed as the Coordinating Economic Minister, former finance minister Rizal Ramli was named the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister and retired general Luhut B. Pandjaitan now becomes the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister.

The only coordinating minister surviving the shake-up was Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Puan Maharani, the daughter of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who still wields powerful influence in the government.

Outgoing coordinating economic minister Sofyan Djalil now chairs the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), while Harvard-educated equity expert Thomas Trikasih Lembong now leads the Trade Ministry. Senior PDI-P politician Pramono Anung Wibowo is now the new Cabinet Secretary.

The first months of Jokowi'€™s leadership have been marred by rising food prices, including rice and beef, a sluggish realization of the government budget and unresolved bottlenecks as shown by the stubbornly high dwelling time in local seaports.

These developments have consequently cast doubts on Indonesia'€™s economic outlook among foreign investors, causing a sell off of local stocks, bonds and currency, all of which have been among the worst performers in the region.

Seemingly aware of the plight, Minister Darmin already has the solutions.

Darmin said that he would coordinate the economic team to focus on three main issues in the immediate term. '€œThe first is about tackling inflation by ensuring low food prices. This is also related to the drought that has hit the nation.'€

'€œThe second is about accelerating state budget spending for the construction of infrastructure.'€

His third priority, he said, was to reform the system that would enable the inflow of foreign funding. '€œWe'€™re short of capital inflow. That explains why there is high volatility in the currency.'€

The announcement of a new economic team, however, failed to halt declines in the stock markets. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) dropped by 3.1 percent on Wednesday, the worst performer in Asia, though the fall was aligned with the broad-based sell off in global stock markets roiled by Chinese currency devaluation.

The rupiah recorded its biggest one-day decline as it fell by 1.4 percent to hit 13,788 per US dollar.

But hopes are high among the business community that the new ministers should be up to the challenge of safeguarding the economy from external shocks while maintaining good communication channels with business.

'€œAt a time when the global economy is really volatile, it is important for us to have a respected coordinating minister who is capable of implement breakthroughs in policies,'€ said Hariyadi Sukamdani, the chairman of the Indonesian Employers'€™ Association (Apindo).

He predicted that there should not be excessive resistance among businesspeople as the new ministers were not unfavorable figures among industry stakeholders.

Rosan P. Roeslani, deputy chairman in the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), said that the reshuffle announcement was positive for businesses as it would end months of uncertainty clouded by the on-again, off-again rumors about changes to the line up of economic ministers.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the reshuffle was undertaken to improve the situation in the domestic economy that was under pressure from various external factors, with growth already falling to a six-year low of 4.7 percent in the first half this year.

Talk of Cabinet reshuffles has surfaced since April, when Vice President Jusuf Kalla first hinted about the possible evaluation of Cabinet members.

'€œWe are positive about the Cabinet reshuffle. That more experienced hands are given the mandate shows the government'€™s seriousness about quickly achieving measurable progress,'€ said Kahlil Rowter, the chief economist of Danareksa Research Institute.

'€œWe hope that the new team will quickly show policy coherence, and in the longer-term identify Indonesia'€™s next growth engine after the end of the commodity super cycle,'€ he added.

A number of top executives at the parties grouped under ruling Great Indonesia Coalition (KIH), for example, NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh, Hanura Party chairman Wiranto and United Development Party'€™s (PPP) Surabaya chairman Muhammad Romahurmuziy, who attended the inauguration ceremony at the State Palace on Wednesday, simply said that the reshuffle was Jokowi'€™s prerogative.

Although NasDem lost one ministerial seat in the Cabinet after its politician Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno was removed from his post as coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister to make way for Luhut, Surya said NasDem supported Jokowi'€™s reshuffle move.

'€œThis is not about the seat, this is about how to attain better output from the Cabinet. And the President, of course, has the prerogative to reform it,'€ Surya said. '€œOur goal is to create a strong administration with a good performance. When a Cabinet member needs to be repositioned, we of course respect it.'€

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