More on Indo.
Destabilization is definitely going to have a negative affect on ANZ. If, however, Soharto comes back with a strong voice then this (another in a continuing string) dark cloud will pass.
Of course .... one of the major keys still remains with the COW's ... they have been downplayed since the BRE-X was found to be a fraud. Prior to that it was THE topic of concern for operations in Indo .... and it should still be of paramount concern to ANZ investors.
Some days it feels like ANZ just can't get a break.....
from Yahoo business on-line
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Thursday January 8, 8:19 am Eastern Time
Indonesia crisis could go on to March-analysts
By Ian MacKenzie
JAKARTA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Indonesia's political and economic crisis is unlikely to end soon unless the government takes a firm grip on reform and President Suharto gives some guidance on his future, political analysts said on Thursday.
An unsubstantiated market rumour that Suharto would decline re-election in March after 30 years in power sent Jakarta's stock index plummeting 18.5 percent on Thursday before it pulled back slightly at the close.
The rupiah currency also fell sharply and was quoted at 10,000 to the dollar in late trade.
''I don't think there'll be a turnaround until March, because that's when people expect the political situation to be settled,'' a senior diplomatic analyst said.
In the meantime, analysts said, there was a pressing need for the government to announce clear-cut plans on implementing reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October in return for a multi-billion dollar bailout.
Rumours abounded during the day, with whispers that the country might impose a moratorium on servicing its foreign debt gathering strength by the evening. However, there was no official indication that there was any basis to the talk.
The chaos spread from the financial markets into the streets, with witnesses reporting panic buying of food and other essentials as people feared another round of price increases. But Jakarta was otherwise peaceful.
Some analysts say the United States should announce unequivocal backing for Indonesia in its crisis, noting Washington's support for South Korea.
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said in Washington on Wednesday Jakarta should step up its efforts to convince markets it was serious about economic reforms.
Suharto, 76, has remained characteristically silent on his future ahead of the March meeting of the electoral People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
He turned aside his nomination for re-election by the ruling Golkar Party, and has said the decision was ultimately up to the people through the MPR -- as he has said ahead of similar elections in the past.
One government official, who declined to be named, would say only of the rumours: ''The president has announced no decision yet.''
Political analysts said the Javanese modesty and adherence to the constitutional process was typical and masked a strong fighting spirit and astute political mind.
Suharto's budget speech for the 1998/99 fiscal year given in parliament on Tuesday failed to impress the markets for lack of specifics, although he pledged his commitment to IMF-backed reforms.
But there was also an element of pugnacity in the speech, in which he called for cool, calm heads to face a crisis that threatened to wreck his development policies of the past 30 years.
''The implications in his budget speech were that he would stay on and fight,'' the diplomatic analyst said.
Suharto's age and questions about his health are serious elements in the political equation, and suggestions that it is time for him to consider stepping down are being publicly voiced -- unthinkable only weeks ago.
Earlier on Thursday a faction of retired generals, politicians and academics suggested it was time for him to step down.
But later in the day Indonesia's ruling Golkar party said Suharto could not be pressured into a decision on whether or not to seek re-election, the official Antara news agency reported.
Even his eldest daughter Siti Hardianti Rukmana (Tutut), who is also a top official in Golkar has expressed what she said was her private hope that Suharto would see out his declining years in peace and retirement.
A key question is who will run as vice-president and potential successor assuming Suharto seeks re-election in March.
There have also been suggestions that a collective leadership was needed to get the country through its current debilitating economic crisis, and calls for a national forum to bring together a wide range of people to discuss the nation's problems.
Again, Jakarta is abuzz with rumours and speculation.
Dipolomatic sources said the current vice-president, ex-army head Try Sutrisno, has emerged as a favoured candidate although Suharto has never had the same running mate twice.
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