2013-08-27

Indonesia Nearing Financial Crisis and Australia Worries About Military Threat

A great example of social mood in The Australian today. I searched for articles on Indonesia, looking for economic and financial news, and came across this headline: Fear and doubt about Indonesia.

Except this article isn't about the economy.
The gap between popular suspicion and warm official relations has been shown by Lowy Institute polls but the latest 91-page study is more detailed and has added significance because it reveals a government anxious to know what underlies the often awkward state of public opinion.

......In the survey, the No. 1 policy issue troubling Australians was people smuggling via Indonesia.

Only 9pc thought Indonesia had made a "strong effort" to do something about this, 31pc acknowledged a "moderate effort", and 18pc believed our neighbour had made no effort at all.

People were more concerned about the welfare of cattle sent to Indonesia than about fair treatment of our citizens in Indonesia's prisons and courts.

Two words that Australians most immediately associate with Indonesia were "holiday" and "Muslim", while nearly one fifth of those surveyed thought Bali was a country all its own.

I did manage to find some news about Indonesia: Indonesia Not in Crisis Level as Conditions Haven’t Deteriorated
Even by comparisons to the 1997-98financial crisis, the current account deficit was exacerbated by large amounts of dollar-denominated debt held by companies, a situation that is different today in which companies’ balance sheets are much stronger. Fifteen years ago, Chatib said [Finance Minister M. Chatib Basri], the banking system was weak, with non-performing loan ratios at more than 30 percent, but now that ratio is less than 4 percent.

“We always perceive ourselves as the only one country in the world. In perspective of many countries, we can see Indonesia more calmly and more clearly,” Chatib said. “We are not in a situation that all is well. The fact that the government is announcing the four policy packages shows that we have to anticipate that the situation can go toward [a crisis]. But now, for example with liquidity measure, we are not like [the situation] in 2008.”
The 10-year government bond in Indonesia is up from 5.5% in April to 8.5% in August. All of the numbers look good before a crisis and turn bad once the crisis gets underway. China also has very low non-performing loan ratios today, but that doesn't mean the system is sound.

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