FLY-by-Night Garuda
Rizal Ramli shared his concerns with President Joko Widodo in a meeting in mid- July. Rizal had been summoned to discuss the rupiah's plunging value against the US dollar. As the meeting was wrapping up, Rizal began fulminating about Garuda Indonesia's plan to purchase 30 A350 Airbus aircraft.
Rizal said he saw danger lurking behind the expansion plan. He reminded the President that in 2000 Garuda had been mired in debt of US$1.8 billion, or some Rp20 trillion. Rizal was at the time Coordinating Minister of the Economy in Abdurrahman Wahid's cabinet, and had been given the task of restructuring Garuda's debt to its creditors, a consortium of European banks.
August 25, 2015
Rizal Ramli shared his concerns with President Joko Widodo in a meeting in mid- July. Rizal had been summoned to discuss the rupiah's plunging value against the US dollar. As the meeting was wrapping up, Rizal began fulminating about Garuda Indonesia's plan to purchase 30 A350 Airbus aircraft.
Rizal said he saw danger lurking behind the expansion plan. He reminded the President that in 2000 Garuda had been mired in debt of US$1.8 billion, or some
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