BOEDIONO, the new Governor of Bank Indonesia apparently asked a former senior official at the central bank: where should efforts to reform Bank Indonesia begin? It is not important to know the answer, but if he was honest, he would have told Boediono to put the eradication of corruption at the top of his to-do list.

The bank with headquarters in Jakarta’s area of Kebon Sirih, has yet to shake off the pejorative of “the robber.” Recently it