VIVAnews - Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), hopes that the rivalry between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, both of whom will run for presidential candidacy in the upcoming elections, will not disrupt the government's economic performance.
The central bank is ready to maintain the national economic condition, especially on monetary issues such as keeping the currency stable and controlling inflation at a low level.
"So hopefully it [won't disrupt the economy]. I have experience in 2004 election. At that time, it was OK, and I hope it'll be fine [this year]," said the Governor of Bank Indonesia, Boediono, at the House of Representative, Jakarta on Tuesday night, Feb. 24.
In response to the business world's anxiety on Yudhoyono-Kalla rivalry affecting the national economy, Boediono added that the economy will not be affected. "It won't [get affected]. It's election, but hopefully there will be no [problem] and people, like myself, will continue on working," he said.
Chairperson of Domestic Trade Committee of the Commerce Chamber Indonesia, Bambang Susetyo, had previously expressed concerns that Kalla's presidential candidacy from the Functional Group (Golkar) Party on the upcoming election will disrupt the crisis recovery effort, especially from the parliamentary members performances which are dominated by Golkar.
"The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce hopes that the government will still focus and be able to control potential conflicts potential that may arise if Kalla runs for the presidential candidacy," said Susetyo last Monday.
If potential conflict is not anticipated, it is worried that the currency will continue to weaken while the foreign exchange reserves will be depleted. "If the government and BI let the national economy worsen, it will be the main contributor for the drop of our currency," said Susetyo.
BI intervention is the only thing that protects rupiah. Without any intervention, it will go down. Thus the government and the House of Representatives should not let BI secure rupiah by using the foreign exchange reserve. "[We] need to find another way or strategy to prevent the currency's slump," he said.
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Translated by: Ariyantri E. Tarman
