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Text your say: Worries about a looming economic crisis

Benjamins: A cashier at a foreign exchange agent counts US dollar bills

The Jakarta Post
Fri, August 28, 2015

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Text your say: Worries about a looming economic crisis Benjamins: A cashier at a foreign exchange agent counts US dollar bills. The rupiah reached its highest level of Rp 14,000 per dollar recently and Bank Indonesia is tightly supervising foreign exchange transactions, especially US dollar purchases, requiring explanations for purchases of $25,000 and above.(JP/Ricky Yudhistira) (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

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span class="inline inline-center">Benjamins: A cashier at a foreign exchange agent counts US dollar bills. The rupiah reached its highest level of Rp 14,000 per dollar recently and Bank Indonesia is tightly supervising foreign exchange transactions, especially US dollar purchases, requiring explanations for purchases of $25,000 and above.(JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Your comments on weakening rupiah and soaring prices of basic commodities and on the government'€™s readiness for the impending economic meltdown:

The rupiah will strengthen soon, so keep buying Indonesian products and start selling foreign currency.

Zain

The government has been, for want of a better word, schizophrenic. It has imposed a raft of protectionist measures after causing global outrage by shooting foreign drug traffickers, and then announced an easing of restrictions on hiring foreign workers.

This all smacks of chaos at the heart of government; the current administration is not fit for purpose. Put it this way: Who will work for rupiah when the pay packet could be worth 10 percent less in the hour it takes to change it to a reserve currency?

Rungkut

The Indonesian story is going from comedy to tragedy.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has been talking nonsense all year. He doesn'€™t have a clue what'€™s going on right now. Exports have averaged minus 12 percent every month for nine months, while imports are averaging minus 19 percent over 12 months.

We'€™ve seen currency controls (rupiah-only transactions), exporters (and probably big businesses) have been asked to sell their dollars to keep the rupiah from falling, dollar exchange has been limited to US$25,000 a month, imports have been blocked.

JPMorgan released a statement yesterday: '€œSell Indonesia Bonds, Rupiah now'€. Indonesia is heading toward a major financial crisis and the clowns running the government don'€™t have a clue what to do about it.

Their only plan is to distort the media and confuse the public about what'€™s really happening, leaving people exposed and unprepared.

SD

This is all down to one root cause: protectionism, the most blatant example being the rupiah-only transaction regulation, closely followed by the absurd non-tariff measures that affect exports.

Meanwhile, governors across the country are sitting around idle, afraid of prosecution if they sign something wrong, leaving the regional budget unspent.

It makes you wonder where this country is heading, doesn'€™t it?

Simba

This is a case of making everything wine and roses so ministers and officials can keep their high-paying jobs and benefits longer.

Simaging
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