Rescuing the Budget from `The Abyss'
The government has revised the 2001 State Budget—and resorted to some unpopular steps. But without strong leadership and support of parliament, the review is a paper tiger.
May 8, 2001
TWO cabinet meetings didn't get off the ground last week because the Minister of Finance took sick. Maybe the pressure of revising the 2001 State Budget, which is threatening to fall apart under the weight of deficit, is too big a burden. Especially, when under the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Indonesia has to manage its ballooning budget deficit before it receives new loans.
In the last meeting with the IMF, the governme
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