THE admission from Bangkok, Thailand, put a big smile on the faces of Rizal Ramli and his friends. Since a long time ago, these economists who are known as the "Awaken Indonesia Group" have been of the opinion that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not capable of handling the economic crisis in this country.

And last week, it seemed as if they were right all along. Charles Adams, Assistant Director of the IMF for the Asia-Pacific, issu