News Brief No. 97/19

News Brief: Camdessus Announces IMF Support for Indonesia’s Economic Program

October 8, 1997

Following Indonesia’s announcement of measures to respond to foreign exchange market pressures, Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said:

"The Indonesian government has announced measures to respond to the recent pressures in the foreign exchange market. It has also indicated that it will be seeking financial support for an economic program from the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). We welcome this announcement.

"Over the last few months the IMF has been working closely with the Indonesian authorities in developing an adequate response to the crisis in Southeast Asia. The IMF strongly supports the approach that has been followed by Indonesia, which sees this as an occasion to strengthen its economic policies even if fundamentals are basically sound.

"Two IMF teams will arrive in Jakarta this week to begin discussions on an IMF-supported economic program and to provide technical assistance on financial sector reform. In the work on the rehabilitation of the financial sector the IMF teams will cooperate closely with World Bank and ADB teams also in the field. It is expected that work on a program will be completed speedily for submission to theconsideration of the IMF Executive Board at an early date, under the accelerated procedures of the Emergency Financing Mechanism."