Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

SURVEY OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 42; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00074910601053193

1472-7234

M. Chatib Basri, Arianto A. Patunru,

Global Financial Crisis and Policies

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1 This is broadly in line with comments made by the former coordinating minister for economic affairs, Aburizal Bakrie (now coordinating minister for welfare), at the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) meeting in Jakarta in January 2005. 2 The long-running Cemex saga (Manning and Roesad Citation2006: 144–6) drew to a close on 27 July, with the government-approved divestment of Cemex's 25% stake in PT Semen Gresik Tbk to the Rajawali Group, a conglomerate with interests in hotels, plantations, tobacco and airlines (see Cemex press release dated 27 July 2006, ). 3 The 2006 non-oil manufacturing growth rates are considerably lower than the rates of 5–7% p.a. registered for most of the post-crisis period. 4 High logistics costs, particularly related to customs clearance for imports and exports, reduce the profitability of the tradables sector, especially manufacturing. In its joint study with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Indonesia (LPEM–FEUI) shows that logistics costs, including transport costs and weighing station charges, comprise 14% of total production costs (LPEM–FEUI Citation2005). 5 Disaggregated data on purchases by model of motor vehicle (not presented here) also show that buyers shifted their preference toward cheaper and low energy cars. Major companies like Astra are increasing their production capacity in anticipation of further recovery in motorcycle sales (interview with Tossin Himawan, director of Astra International). 6 Previously almost all government bonds were held by banks as a result of their recapitalisation by the government in 1998–99. 7 A similar campaign is also evident in Australia, where the sugar cane grower lobby is seeking to boost demand for ethanol by pushing for its compulsory inclusion in domestically consumed petrol (Koch Citation2006). 8 The proportional increase was somewhat higher in rural than in urban areas. 9 The expenditure ranges used to define near poor, near non-poor and non-poor are 100–125%, 125–150% and greater than 150% of the poverty line, respectively. 10 Vice President Jusuf Kalla asserted recently that the desirable stable price range is Rp 4,200–4,300 per kilogram (Kompas, 2/9/2006). 11 Nonetheless, it has usually been the case that not all ministers support the policy, with the ministers of agriculture and trade typically diametrically opposed to each other. This year, however, the minister of agriculture appears less strongly opposed to rice imports than in the past. 12 See Kontan's interview with a rice seller (Kontan, 11/9/2006). 13 There has been widespread speculation in the media that the long delay that ensued before the president finally declared the incident a national disaster (in late September) reflected the strong political connections of the contractor involved (see below). 14 The capital market regulator, Bapepam, is rightly taking a keen interest in this transaction between a publicly listed company and another company owned by its majority shareholder (Asia Pulse, 29/9/2006). 15 See the Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board website, . 16 As reported in a meeting between monitoring teams and officials from responsible ministries on 1 September 2006 (GOI Citation2006b). 17 Faisal Basri, personal communication, September 2006. 18 Of course, some delays are beneficial—in particular, in relation to policy measures that would in fact weaken rather than improve economic performance. The subsidised credit scheme of the Ministry for Small and Medium Enterprises is a case in point. 19 That is, business conducted in accordance with Islamic precepts.