Prevention of further corruption in high places cannot be done only by designing better procedures, greater transparencies and strengthening of the judiciary, as stressed in the budget speech, but heads of corruptors in the past must roll as a result of punitive measures and show of seriousness of intent by the government. The government should walk around with a big stick and be seen to use it. Perhaps because of these international pressures, the office of the Attorney General has recently increased the number of suspects in the Bank Bali case, with one big name, a former minister in the Habibie cabinet. A budget speech should explain the budget figures as a reflection of the government s fiscal policy. The major tenet this year is prudence.
Revenues are very limited in a time of incipient economic recovery.
A lot of budget figures are stated as percentages of the national product. Another half can be expected from international aid. Fiscal policy by the government and monetary policy by Bank Indonesia should attain that objective. The budget speech is also an occasion to stress important government policies for the year. Like the LoI with the IMF, the government s speech to parliament stressed further progress with respect to banking restructuring and corporate debts restructuring.