Chapter 348 Appeasement meeting

  December 10, New York, Manhattan, Plaza Hotel.

   Soros and Druckenmiller didn't wait too long before they met Indonesian Finance Minister Mai Muhammad who was visiting everywhere.

  Mali Muhammad, the current Minister of Finance of Indonesia. In the evaluation of him by the western media, this is a respectable technical official. In the past few years, he has ensured the rapid growth of the Indonesian economy with accurate and flexible fiscal policies. He is very capable among many finance ministers in Southeast Asia. The market is particularly impressed by the series of countermeasures taken after the outbreak of the financial crisis.

  In fact, without his series of countermeasures, Soros and his team would not think that there is a possibility of rising, and then buy and build a large number of long positions in the Indonesian rupiah.

  Malyi’s visit to the United States this time is mainly to appease Western investors, including government agencies and large institutional investors. In view of the mixed reactions to the Indonesian currency in the current market and various rumors emerging one after another, Suharto and his staff believe that the current government needs to clarify one by one, so they sent Mari, whose image and ability are recognized in the eyes of the Western media. .Muhammad came to the United States to try to explain the situation to Western investors.

In the past few days, Mai Muhammad first visited Washington, met with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, then visited the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank non-stop, and then New York, where a large number of institutional investors are waiting with his comfort. According to the itinerary, after the trip to the United States, he will go to Europe to explain the current domestic economic situation in Indonesia to many organizations including OPEC.

  Because the scheduled itinerary was too tight, Mai Muhammad took the time to rest as soon as he arrived at the Plaza Hotel. However, after hearing that Soros and Druckenmiller came to visit, the Minister of Finance was sleepy and sluggish one second ago, but the next moment he was full of energy and radiant, as if he was a different person, directly Shouted to the staff: "Hurry up, please treat these two distinguished guests!"

Since the successful defeat of the Thai baht, Soros and his Quantum Fund name have been widely circulated among senior government officials in Southeast Asia. Then at the World Bank annual meeting held in Hong Kong, he and the Malaysian Prime Minister accused each other even more. He is so famous that even ordinary people in these areas have heard of him.

As a high-level person in charge of a country's fiscal policy, Mai Muhammad knows much more about Soros and its Quantum Fund than reported in the newspapers, especially for planning the attack on the pound and the attack on the baht Druckenmiller played a key role in the process, and he knows a lot more. Because Soros's reputation in Southeast Asian countries is not very good, Mai Muhammad planned to pay a private visit to Druckenmiller. Who would have thought that they would take the initiative to visit him, and the two of them would come together.

  Being politely invited into the reception room, Soros and Druckenmiller easily saw Mai Muhammad, a short, dark-skinned guy. According to the aesthetic point of view of Westerners, Mayi Muhammad's appearance can even be said to be a bit shabby: short and narrow forehead, small eyes, loose nose, plus thick lips, even the suit on his body doesn't fit well, No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a big man in a high position.

However, Soros and Druckenmiller are naturally not such superficial characters who judge people by their appearance. In fact, Soros noticed at the first sight that the finance minister's face was sharp and angular, as if it was cut by a knife. A person with a firm will will not easily succumb to difficulties, and the light in his eyes from time to time further confirms what he thinks in his heart. When he thought of this, he felt a "thump" in his heart, thinking that this visit might come back in vain.

  Drukenmiller obviously had a similar idea. After looking at Soros silently, he introduced himself first, and after introducing Soros again, the two sides sat down.

"Mr. Soros, I don't know what is the purpose of your visit this time? If you want to extract some information from me about shorting the Indonesian rupiah, then you can save your mouth." Just after the greetings between the two parties were over, Mai Muha Maude said lightly. Although his English with a thick Indonesian accent was a mouthful, Soros and Druckenmiller understood him.

  As a high-level country, Muhammad is naturally vigilant enough to take the lead in blocking what Soros might say, and take precautions in advance, so as to minimize the possibility of leaking information.

  He knows very well that every word he says may be repeatedly amplified by the market, and will eventually affect the market in some way. This market is not only the Indonesian rupiah market, but also the capital market in Indonesia. A shrewd character like Soros, if he is at least a little careless, may leak a certain secret and be used by them in the end.

What he didn't expect was that after hearing his words, Soros didn't feel embarrassed at all. He just smiled and said, "Mr. Minister, you are wrong. In fact, we are not interested in attacking Indonesia's currency. Contrary to that, we also made a lot more rupiah."

Seeing the suspicious look on Mai Muhammad's face, Druckenmiller immediately added: "Yes! Mr. Minister, George once said in Hong Kong that the currency crisis in Asia is over. This is not prevarication. It’s not a lie. In fact, after that, we were very bullish on the Indonesian rupiah, so we spent a lot of time buying a lot of rupiah, hoping to help the Indonesian government.”

   As soon as he finished speaking, Soros continued: "I guarantee in the name of God and the honor of my family that every word Stanley said is serious."

  Seeing the tacit cooperation between the two singing and harmonizing, Mai Muhammad smiled, nodded and said: "Since this is the case, then we have a lot to discuss."

Although he still had doubts in his heart, Mai Muhammad did not show it. Next, he began to talk about Indonesia's economic development prospects and future plans, interspersed with explanations about the usefulness of the IMF rescue plan and many more. Soros and Druckenmiller listened carefully, asking a few questions from time to time.

  The two sides talked for more than an hour in this friendly atmosphere, before Mai Muhammad finished a series of speeches he had prepared in advance. This set of rhetoric is also the one used to deal with the US finance, the IMF, the World Bank, etc., and the questions raised by Soros, Druckenmiller and others have already been raised, so Mayi Muhammad is very concerned. Calm down, I felt a little disapproving in my heart, thinking to myself that the elites of these hedge funds were nothing more than that.

   After he finished speaking, he felt a little parched, so he casually picked up a cup of half-cold coffee at hand, tasted it with gusto, and observed the performance of the people opposite him at the same time.

Not to his surprise, after exchanging glances with Soros, Druckenmiller said with a smile: "Mr. Minister, thank you for your wonderful analysis. We are very impressed by your excellent work." , let us have a full and direct understanding of the Indonesian government and their economy. Next, I would like to ask a few more questions, I wonder if you can answer them conveniently?"

"This coffee is good. Although it is not as good as our cat **** coffee, it has a smooth taste and a lingering aroma. It seems that I will bring a few more bags of coffee beans back." Mayi Muhammad, who was thinking wildly, nodded absent-mindedly. Nodding, still thinking about the coffee, he picked up the cup and took another sip.

"As you must know, the market has been flooded with news about the Indonesian government recently, some of which are true and some of which are false, and many of them are rumors, such as President Suharto's health problems. But among the many news, we are the most The concern is that the Suharto government and their clan are rumored to be printing money for their friends, so... dishonorable friends, if you don't mind. Also, these dishonorable friends are said to pass these rupiah through The bank converted it into U.S. dollars and transferred it out, and the source of these U.S. dollars is the IMF’s rescue funds, I don’t know if you have heard of it?”

"Ahem..." As soon as the coffee entered his throat, Muhammad panicked when he heard these words, and was choked in a hurry. The coffee that had already been swallowed spewed out, even so, his face was flushed, and the veins on his forehead were protruding, and he seemed to be suffering from suffocation.

  Seeing his reaction, Soros and Druckenmiller exchanged glances quickly, both of them knew clearly: the Minister of Finance not only knew about it, but might even be involved in it.

  Mai Muhammad, who had finally recovered his breath, raised his head again, but seeing Soros's half-smile expression, he felt a little awe-inspiring in his heart. Looking at Druckenmiller again, the expression of Soros's left and right hands has not changed, and his sitting posture is still leaning forward slightly, with an open-minded appearance, but his originally plain eyes are flickering frequently at this time. Obviously figuring something out.

  Under such circumstances, it is naturally impossible for Mai Muhammad to deny it. In fact, since last night, the news has spread everywhere like a virus, and even the staff around Muhammad have heard of it. Should he deny that he had heard of this rumor in front of the two hedge fund managers? Mai Muhammad's mind flickered for a moment, and he decisively denied this idea.

  Since it cannot be denied, it can only be admitted indirectly. Muhammad nodded slightly, then raised his coffee cup again, sipping it relishingly, as if tasting fine wine.

"Then dare to ask Mr. Minister, do you know whether these rumors in the market are true or not?" Druckenmiller naturally did not miss the opportunity to pursue him, and immediately threw out the pre-thought-out question, "You know These rescue funds have a clear purpose, and if something like this happens, we investors will immediately become victims!"

  Mai Muhammad was extremely embarrassed and didn't know how to answer these questions. Now that he is the Minister of Finance of the country, it is absolutely impossible to tell lies under such circumstances, otherwise not only him, but also the credibility of the high-level Indonesian government including President Suharto will be lost immediately. And he can't tell the truth, because once he admits the fact of "stealing", the anger of foreign investors and possible subsequent sanctions are beyond his ability to face.

But politicians are politicians, at least after a little panic at first, Mai Muhammad quickly calmed down, and said irrelevantly: "Our Indonesian government has a consensus, and in the agreement reached with the IMF, there is also a need for these rescue funds. Clear regulations on usage. Regarding the rumors in the market, I can only say bullshit! Bullshit! This is clearly someone who made a rumor and wanted to short the Indonesian rupiah!"

  He speaks righteously, full of spirit, coupled with rich body movements, if it were an ordinary person, he might be fooled by him. But his eyes were flickering all the time, and he kept dodging the staring gazes of Soros and Druckenmiller, which naturally greatly reduced the effect of his words in their hearts.

"Let me ask a question too!" Seeing that Muhammad avoided the important and only used diplomatic rhetoric to perfunctory, Soros went out in person and went into battle shirtless, "There are also rumors in the market. According to the previous agreement between your country and the IMF 16 banks need to be closed. But one of the banks that is said to be behind the Suharto family has not been closed, and a large number of assets have been transferred. Is there such a thing? "

  Different from Druckenmiller, Soros put more pressure on Muhammad, so that fine beads of sweat appeared on the finance minister's forehead. After organizing some words in his mind, Muhammad pretended to be calm and said: "I don't know much about these banks. But as far as I know, the closure of these banks will take a certain amount of time, such as cleaning up. Matters such as assets and refund of deposits cannot be resolved in a short while. As for what you said, I am afraid it may also be the rumors of people who are shorting the Indonesian rupiah. It is better not to believe too much."

This time, he mustered up his courage to look at Soros, but he was defeated after holding on for five seconds, because the other party's eyes were clearly filled with disdain, sarcasm, ridicule and anger. The last time De saw him was when he was beaten up by the neighbor next door when he stole something from his house.

  Mail Muhammad is a good official, decent, capable, and has an outstanding reputation. But because of this, he couldn't lie frankly, otherwise he would only ruin the reputation he had built so hard.

  The conversation has reached this point, and there is not much need to continue. After a few more pleasantries, Soros and Druckenmiller with livid faces got up and said goodbye.

After politely sending them to the door, Mai Muhammad, who returned to the room, took another sip of coffee. He felt that the originally smooth and aromatic coffee had become extremely bitter and almost hard to swallow. This made him decisively give up the idea of ​​buying coffee beans.

On the other side, several people from the Quantum Fund were silent after leaving the hotel, until a row of limousines drove back to their headquarters, and then someone shouted loudly: "My God! God! How could that be?" So, I can't believe we're going long!"

  Traders and analysts who were busy in the trading room turned their heads and looked in the direction of the sound, and found that it was Druckenmiller, the manager whose prestige in Quantum Fund was second only to Soros. Although I didn't understand what happened for a while, but seeing Druckenmiller's angry expression, I knew that something must have happened.

   Soros was the calmest, and he just said lightly: "Now all complaints are useless, let's figure out how to close these positions in the shortest time!"

At this time, Druckenmiller also calmed down. After bowing his head and thinking hard for a long time, he said helplessly: "I'm afraid it will not be easy. With the current liquidity and the impact of these news, we have almost no It's possible to level off!"

   PS: Book friends, the big news that was just predicted two days ago has been released. Although the target of the prediction is wrong, it is still big news! BTW: Thanks to book friends lubo98, TinyBee, cljdc for voting for the monthly ticket and the reward of the Invincible Flying Dragon King!

  

  

  (end of this chapter)