Mulyani surpasses previous achievements
Indonesia’s finance minister is the darling of bankers in Asia, who applaud her no-nonsense approach and adept handling of the country’s finances.
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| Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia |
IN THE CITATION for this award in 2006 Sri Mulyani was praised as being "attuned to investors’ concerns", a skill that has been of particular use this year as Indonesia’s dire funding needs coincided with a period of great turmoil in global credit markets. While Mulyani attracts much praise for her work in tackling corruption and taking on the issue of subsidies, one of the pre-eminent tasks of a finance minister is to raise funds when they are needed — for that the successful launch of the Republic of Indonesia’s $1.9 billion bond in January might be her biggest achievement of the year.
HSBC, Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital acted as bookrunners on the deal, which was structured as two almost equal tranches of 10 years and 30 years. However, even with a team of capable debt houses on board, success was not guaranteed. What most impressed investors and debt capital markets bankers was Mulyani’s hands-on approach.