THREE coordinating ministers held an important meeting at the beginning of September. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources, also took part. One by one, at two-hour intervals, officials left Lapangan Banteng, the headquarters of Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono. None were prepared to make any comment.

It was only Boediono who in fact was prepared to comment. That afternoon, they were discussing the evaluatio