SBY PRESIDENCY
Maintaining economic growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy amid a global recession will be the toughest challenge for Indonesia’s re-elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with all eyes on his choices for the new economic team."SBY must dare to take unpopular policies in economic sectors," Fadhil Hasan, an economist from the Institute for Development of Economic and Finance (INDEF), told IslamOnline.net on Thursday, July 30, using Yudhoyono’s nickname.
Experts believe Yudhoyono, who comfortably won re-election earlier this month, will have economy as his most daunting challenge in his new five-year term.
They contend that the next government will have to stabilize economic growth, especially after the deadly Jakarta hotels bombings which killed and wounded dozens.
There are also the problems of sustaining inflation rate within the five percent level, strengthening the local currency and luring foreign investments.
Jacobus Kristiadi, a senior researcher with the Center for Strategic and International Study (CSIS), agrees that economy remains the biggest challenge for the new government.
He believes it needs to reduce the unemployment rate by six percent before the end of 2010, develop housing and cheap apartments and increase wages among other tasks.
The International Monetary Funds (IMF) hailed on Wednesday the resilience of the Indonesian economy due to strong initial fundamentals and appropriate policy responses.
Earlier this month, the World Bank anticipated Indonesia’s economy to emerge a winner after avoiding the worst of the global financial crisis.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim state with Muslims making up around 85 percent of its 220-million population.
Experts believe Yudhoyono's test will begin with the formation of his new cabinet, particularly the economy team.
They want him choose more professionals and technocrats in his new cabinet’s economy team, which might mean fighting back pressures from his political allies.
"Accommodating parties by giving them strategic positions is unavoidable, but it must be measured," contends Fadhil, the INDEF economist.
He notes that strategic ministerial positions, such as the finance minister, state enterprise minister, energy and mineral resources minister, industry minister, and trade minister would be the most important.
Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association, said the decision of the economic team in the new cabinet is most awaited.
He fears that if such strategic sectors are not given to professionals, political parties might potentially misuse fortune zones for their own interest.
"The president is not necessarily to put a businessman in the cabinet but only someone who fully understands about business," Sofyan, himself a tycoon, told IOL.
Kristiadi, the CSIS researcher, is optimist that SBY would make the balance between appeasing his political allies without sacrificing public interests.
"SBY got landslide victory, so he can independently choose his cabinet members without any intervention of political parties.
(By Dandy Koswaraputra IOL Correspondent-www.islamonline.net)
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