Anybody who has been reading up on next year's forecasts- issued by the members of the commentariat- is unlikely to feel optimistic about 2009. A recent Rabobank forecast, for example, believes that the UK economy will shrink by 1.5 % and that unemployment will reach as high as 8.5 % (at the time this newspaper went to press, it is not certain whether the predicted unemployed include Gordon Brown).
The Indonesians amongst us old enough to remember the infamous Krismon surely now have that sinking feel of how familiar all of this is. However - there are probably lesser number of Indonesians now who remain optimistic that somehow, all of the doomsday scenario will come to naught.
Of course there is some basis for being a tad optimistic about the situation. In a survey by The Economist issued for the 10th anniversary of the Asian Economic Crisis in June of this year, it is quite robust in the assessments that our banks are stronger than before; that our foreign reserves are more plentiful ; and that our economy is not as reliant on foreign investment as before. In addition - in the words of a former ambassador of the court of St. James's to Indonesia - "Indonesia is a dissappointing country; it dissappoints the pessimists, but it also dissappoints the optimists".
For all our sake, may Indonesia be a very dissappointing country in 2009.
The Indonesians amongst us old enough to remember the infamous Krismon surely now have that sinking feel of how familiar all of this is. However - there are probably lesser number of Indonesians now who remain optimistic that somehow, all of the doomsday scenario will come to naught.
Of course there is some basis for being a tad optimistic about the situation. In a survey by The Economist issued for the 10th anniversary of the Asian Economic Crisis in June of this year, it is quite robust in the assessments that our banks are stronger than before; that our foreign reserves are more plentiful ; and that our economy is not as reliant on foreign investment as before. In addition - in the words of a former ambassador of the court of St. James's to Indonesia - "Indonesia is a dissappointing country; it dissappoints the pessimists, but it also dissappoints the optimists".
For all our sake, may Indonesia be a very dissappointing country in 2009.
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