This weekend saw Indonesia’s finance minister Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati involved in negotiations in Washington at the G20 summit. Indonesia was the sole representative of the Asean region at the meeting, and Mulyani faced the delicate task of balancing her country's needs with those of the region. Her president announced on Sunday that Indonesia would not seek direct aid from the IMF, but did not rule out cooperation with the World Bank.
Speaking to Euromoney’s Lawrence White on Friday night, Mulyani addressed Indonesia's currency troubles, the rumours that she tended her resignation over new developments in the Bakrie saga and the question of her own political ambitions.
As well as Indonesia’s economic woes, Mulyani has had to contend with a developing saga that has threatened her government's credibility, the national economy and indeed her own career. Bakrie and Brothers is the holding company for a group that contains some of the country’s most prominent businesses, mainly in the energy, property and telecoms sectors, and it is in trouble. The firm was looking to raise around $1 billion to repay maturing debts and hit upon the solution of selling its stake in Bumi Resources, a coal-exporting firm, for $1.3