and services. even, this increase of open unemployment rate in riau and kaltim - kaltara rose above 7 %. 5. the third challenge is the implementation of asean economic community ( masyarakat ekonomi asean - mea ) that should be started by end of december 2015. on one hand the mea commitment will open market opportunities with freer flows of goods, services, investments, workforce and capital. but on the other hand, this will provide consequences of higher competition in the domestic market of the respective country. with the massive market potentials, i see the most fundamental tough challenge of the mea commitment is our ability to create competitiveness that is competitive. can we utilize mea as an opportunity to act as the major actor of the global production chain, or will we only be the target market and spectator? in my opinion, at this point our capability to read and anticipate the economic movement ahead is getting tested. 6. the fourth challenge was the normalization of the fed interest rate. this issue dominated the dynamics of the financial markets, both in the advanced economy and emerging markets since may 2013. this normalization of interest rate caused uncertainties that often changed the behavior of risk on - risk off rapidly from the investors. post data release of the us labor which was improving in the month of october 2015, the bloomberg survey indicated market expectation to the increase of bis central bankers ’ speeches the fed interest rate, fed fund rate, in december 2015 increasing from 56 % to 68 %. ladies and gentlemen, and attendees, latest policy of bank indonesia 7. to face the quite tough challenge in economy, various policies have been carried out. in the field of monetary, bi remains maintaining a tight bias monetary policy in order to maintain market confidence and suppress the current account deficit. although the pressure toward macro stability started to decline, so that there is a space for easing the monetary policy, we still need to observe the high risk of global uncertainties, in particular due to the plan of fed fund rate increase in december and the preparedness in mitigating its risk. 8. in line with the said matter, the focus of bi policy in the short run remains directed to the measures of stabilization of the exchange rate, strengthening rupiah liquidity management, and also strengthening foreign exchange supply - demand management. bank indonesia also welcome and appreciate the series of the government and ojk policy packages in supporting economic growth and structural reformation needed to strengthen the foundation

despite remaining relatively minor as the scale of the crisis has mushroomed. meanwhile, amidst such inauspicious surroundings, indonesia is certainly not in the worst position compared to other countries. in general, our macro posture, including economic growth, is not bad. our banking industry also remains robust. indonesia can be considered lucky as its banks ’ and financial institutions ’ exposure to subprime mortgages is minimal. however, we are certainly not immune to the impacts of the crisis. as global credit crunch reached its pinnacle following the bankruptcy of lehman brothers, which dealt a psychological blow to the domestic market, in november 2008 the government took over bank century in order to maintain national banking stability. moreover, indonesian banks are not immune from the problem of derivative products, and the scale being relatively smaller compared to several other developing countries, and significantly less than in developed countries. meanwhile, some have expressed that our delay in integrating our financial sector with the global financial network is really a blessing in disguise, as it has saved us from more serious crisis fallout. i tend to agree with this view. in my opinion, it serves as a lesson for us not to be over enthusiastic to advance or be considered advanced before we truly understand the inherent risks and before we are ready with the required tools to manage such risks. later i will return to this subject on the lessons learned from the ongoing crisis. a current issue we face today is the waning access of corporations and banks to sources of foreign financing. the exodus of funds from developing countries, including indonesia, has been stemmed. furthermore, the signs of capital inflows to indonesia are yet to materialize, except on a small scale. the return to a normal flow of funds has not yet transpired but, as i have mentioned, there is reason to be optimistic. we have all witnessed how developed countries have gone all out when taking measures to normalize the supply and flow of credit to their own countries in order to stem the tide of deteriorating economic activities. once credit flows in such countries have returned to normal, fund flows to developing countries will gradually return to normal too. indonesia must position itself among other developing countries so that we can be among the first to benefit from the global financial awakening. in my view, the key lies in positioning indonesia to be considered as a safe and convenient place to conduct business and investment. we have to assure investors that our macro economy is properly managed and sustainable, and that our financial sector, particularly the banking sector, is robust.