Indonesia’s new finance minister says subsidies priority, budget to be safe and smoothly implemented | Sector data
(The Insider Stories) – Indonesia’s new acting finance minister says he is giving priority to cutting a hefty fuel subsidy bill in a bid to allay fears of a spending spree before elections next year. Hatta Rajasa also said he will seek to ensure the 2013 state budget is secure and state spending is implemented smoothly.
Rajasa has family ties to Yudhoyono, sought to ease concerns about his appointment, saying he plans to follow the fiscal measures of his predecessor Agus Martowardojo, who will take over as head of the Bank Indonesia (BI) in late May. Some critics suspect the 59-year-old was given the finance portfolio in order to control the flow of money ahead of next year’s legislative and presidential elections.
Some analysts believed Rajasa’s close ties to Yudhoyono could prove a lightning rod for criticism. His daughter is married to one of Yudhoyono’s sons.
Rajasa is head of the National Mandate Party, a moderate Islamist party that is part of the ruling coalition, and there is speculation that Yudhoyono will back him to run for the presidency once he steps aside next year after a decade in power.
The Jakarta stock market has eased slightly since Friday’s announcement, with many economists uneasy over Rajasa’s ability to implement key policy changes.
Rajasa is Indonesia’s third finance minister in as many years, but it is unclear how long he will hold the post.
Meanwhile former finance minister Martowardojo will use his spare time to prepare for the transition to work as BI governor in May.
Martowardojo said he would also fill the time available to strengthen relations with both friends and relatives whom he had little time to spend with while he was a minister.
Yudhoyono said he was grateful that Martowardojo showed dedication and merit as finance minister.
Martowardojo said he learned of the President’s decision to dismiss him as finance minister issuance of Presidential Regulation No.44/2013 when he was attending the G20 meet in the U.S. He has been appointed BI governor for 2013-2018, replacing Darmin Nasution, whose term expires in May.
