Ibra hasn't been willing to deal with the situation, advisers say, despite the fact that it has inherited the debt of some of these mega-projects, such as the Chandra Asri petrochemical plant in which Suharto son Bambang Trihatmodjo has a stake. With the selection of the new president in sight, Jakarta is teeming with rumours about expropriation to come. Everyone is being leaned on for political contributions. Meanwhile, in Thailand, progress in halting bad banking practices is almost as uneven. When the Bank of Thailand, the country's central bank, called a meeting with local Thai banks recently, the problem of collusion was at the top of its agenda.
Collusion is widespread in Thailand, as local bank officials readily concede.
Now the Bank of Thailand must help its charges clean up the mess and expose any further hidden liabilities. It must also change the system so that such problems don't recur in the future. Making banks run their businesses professionally is the most important mandate of central banks across the Asian region. To be sure, plenty of debts are being rescheduled. That enables banks to take troubled loans out of the doubtful category, giving the world the impression that the problems are being tackled.