FINANCE MINISTER: ONGOING RAPID CHANGES COULD POSE SERIOUS RISKS

Jakarta, Feb. 25 (ANTARA) - Finance Minister concurrently Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sri Mulyani Indrawati has warned that the rapid changes the world is going through at present could pose serious risks if not anticipated properly.
"The threat of risks should not throw us into a panic but we have to be well prepared," Mulyani said at a Breakfast Meeting of State Enterprise (BUMN) Executives here on Wednesday.
As a consequence of the global economic crisis, almost all countries, including Indonesia, have been forced to make adjustments in their state budgets, she said.
"In the past, state budget adjustments were made on a semestral or even quarterly basis but now they have to be done monthly," the minister said.
The rapid changes in the world economy began around March 2007 when the US started to face a property market problem. The crisis expanded to the banking and financial sectors and reached its peak in March 2008, she said.
"The impact of the crisis continued to expand and led to a US economic slowdown which reached a bottom in September 2008. The impact soon spread across the world and reached Indonesia in October 2008," the finance minister said.
She said that before March 2007, the Asian economy had recovered and China was predicted to become an economic giant with an economic growth rate of roughly 12 percent. But because of the current crisis, China's economic growth rate is now expected to drop to below seven percent.
Based on the experiences from the 1997/1998 economic crisis, Indonesia must prepare herself well to face the risks of the swift changes, she said.
"What happened in the US recently was almost similar to what we experienced in Indonesia 10 years ago. To overcome the crisis, huge amounts of funds are needed and until now, we still feel the implications," Mulyani said.
The BUMN Executive Club was attended among others by a number of BUMN directors such as ANTARA President Director Dr. Ahmad Mukhlis Yusuf, Telkom President Director Rinaldi Firmansyah, former BRI president director and current chairman of the BUMN Executive Club Rujito, Deputy Minister of BUMN Sahala Lumban Gaol, PT Jamsostek President Director Hotbonar Sinaga, and Bulog (National Logistic Body) President Director Mustafa Abubakar.
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