Chapter 394 Misfortune diverted to the east

Since the Indonesian rupiah plummeted to 13,250 on January 23 and 26, various rumors have emerged in the market, such as the Indonesian government’s international status is already in jeopardy, and a large-scale financial, economic, and currency crisis will break out in Indonesia. Among them, the most widely spread is Suharto's own health problems. On Monday, 26th, he rarely showed up, and some consortiums in Indonesia frantically bought low-priced Indonesian rupiah in the market, which made many institutions puzzled by this transaction behavior. Naturally, the results were revealed on January 27. To the surprise of many people, President Suharto appeared in front of the media on this day, and delivered an inspiring speech, calling on the people to unite and cross the road together. Through the current difficulties, and moderately expressed the anger of the false rumors in the market.

  The plot immediately reversed, and those who sold before naturally suffered heavy losses. On that day, the Indonesian rupiah rose sharply from 13,250 to 1 US dollar in the previous trading day to 11,500 to 11,500 rupiah to 1 US dollar. In just one day, it skyrocketed by 1,750 points, an increase of 13.21%. This unexpected turn of events caused many institutions that shorted the Indonesian rupiah to lose their money and complained endlessly. However, those consortiums that knew the real situation of Suharto’s health took advantage of this opportunity to make a lot of money, and the profits made many experts They all clicked their tongues.

It's just that Suharto's "taking risks" can only deceive some foreign investors. After all, they don't know much about Indonesia's domestic situation. In the case of information asymmetry, they can only use rumors to obtain what they think. It may be true information, but the result is naturally a complete failure. But for some consortiums in the country, this kind of trick that can almost be called a child's play is simply out of their sight.

  At least, Yusuf Habibie saw this trick very clearly, and even guessed that the rumors about President Suharto's health were probably deliberately released by the consortia close to him. As the actual controller of Kalimantan Island, he has already figured out Suharto's nature through decades of contacts and struggles with Suharto. He could have made a lot of money by manipulating the foreign exchange market this time, but his investment was mainly concentrated in the real industry, and the funds he could withdraw were really limited, so this time he took the initiative to choose to wait and see.

Although it appears to be indifferent, Suharto's behavior has actually made him feel very annoyed. There is no other reason, because the fluctuating exchange rate of the Indonesian rupiah has seriously affected his business, especially in US dollars. oil business. In the past few months, due to the economic depression in Asia, his oil business has been greatly affected. His Pertamina company is already struggling to make ends meet, and the Indonesian rupiah has plummeted under the indulgence of some people. The combination of the two is almost killing him. So after more than a month of patience and observation, he decisively united with the forces of Sumatra, Sulawesi and several other big islands, and issued an ultimatum to President Suharto.

"Under the current circumstances, I think His Excellency should consider stabilizing the exchange rate market, rather than just letting it go. Among other things, our unemployment rate has increased significantly, and even the workers who have kept their jobs have seen their pay cuts. At least, Your Excellency, I think you should do something."

  Yousuf Habibie's tone was still polite. In fact, his originally prepared strategy was to lower his stance first, and the other party was, after all, the actual president.

"Workers who keep their jobs? Whose workers are those?" Before Suharto could say anything, his son Tommy jumped out impatiently, "Yusuf, as far as I know, your North Tamina 20% of the shares were sold at the original price in Hong Kong, which shows that the market’s confidence in you has not changed in the slightest. Under such circumstances, you still deduct the wages of your own workers, it’s really unconscionable, tsk tsk!”

  Tomi resembles Suharto when he was young, and also wears a white dome hat. Like the children of high-ranking officials in many authoritarian countries, Tommy used his power to build a huge business empire during his father's administration, with assets estimated at $800 million. He has a private golf course in Indonesia, and also owns farms and luxury villas in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and other places. He is keen on gambling and car racing. Every time he goes to Europe to gamble, he takes a private jet and carries millions of dollars in gambling. He has a variety of expensive sports cars, and built a racing track on the outskirts of Jakarta for this purpose. The man was sentenced to 18 months in prison last year for corruption in a transaction with the State Logistics Agency, but was never arrested.

  Due to the increased demand for liquidity, especially the demand for U.S. dollars, Yusuf once sent Suply Yato to Hong Kong to contact local and Chinese consortiums, and then planned to sell 20% of the shares of Pertamina. Although this matter was done in a concealed manner, everyone present had heard of such a major bankruptcy of Peregrine, and naturally knew the selling price of the shares of Peregrine Company.

   "You!" Yusuf was furious, and slapped the table, "What are you, you dare to talk to me like that! Don't forget, you are just a commoner now, and this is not the place you should stay!"

"Really?" Tommy's face remained unchanged, and he took the time to arrange his hair before he said lightly, "Before you spoke, I was indeed a commoner, and right after you said that, I have Now that I have assumed my official capacity, I officially announce that I, Tommy Suharto, have become President Suharto's economic adviser."

"Habibi, why do you have to be as knowledgeable as a child!" Suharto finally spoke, and after giving Tommy a dissatisfied look, he smiled and said to Yusuf, "I also agree with the situation you just said. Got it. Habibi, we have been friends for decades, do you have any good suggestions? What do you mean by the ups and downs of the intervention shield you mentioned just now?"

  This conference hall is one of the highest-level conference rooms in the presidential residence. Except for the necessary furnishings, everything else is basically arranged according to Suharto's personal preferences. For example, the pair of white to almost flawless ivory hanging on the wall opposite the long conference table is Suharto's special decoration. Someone bought it from Thailand, and it was the tooth of the elephant king. Also, the thick Arabic carpet on the ground is embroidered with stories about God and seventy-two virgins. It is said that it took fifty female workers three years to weave these patterns. Naturally, in terms of lighting, Suharto, who has become old and dizzy, has arranged strong lights that are almost daytime in any meeting room. Among them, the roof of this meeting room is hung with lamps from a family of lamps and lanterns in Naples, Italy. A family heirloom, a crystal chandelier with thousands of light bulbs, inlaid with various precious jewels including agate, pearls, diamonds, and sapphires. The cost of this lamp alone has reached 500,000 US dollars.

  In this extravagant meeting room, Yusuf Habibi only felt chills. He is not sympathetic, in fact his life is extremely extravagant. He really couldn't stand Suharto's serious calf protection.

"Since the International Monetary Fund has allocated so much rescue money to us, and we have also experienced half a year, we think that the Indonesian rupiah may try to become a fixed exchange rate system with a certain daily fluctuation limit." In patience After waiting for a long time, Yusuf Habibi said slowly, "At least for everyone here, this should be good news. You don't have to worry about our petroleum, olive oil, coconut, rubber and other export items every day. offer."

As soon as Yusuf finished speaking, a man in his forties next to Tommy's left immediately retorted sharply: "Fixed exchange rate system? Are you crazy? Don't you know that in the past In 2009, have all the countries in this region that implemented a fixed exchange rate system finished the game? Including South Korea, whose economic aggregate is much larger than ours. Now that we implement a fixed exchange rate system, we are looking for a dead end."

Yusuf was a little unhappy at first, but after such a face-to-face rebuttal, he immediately flew into a rage and shouted: "Really? Are all the countries that implement fixed exchange rate systems finished? At least I know, and I don't know." There is one region, Hong Kong, which has survived several shocks, and they are our targets and our examples."

"Hmph!" The other party also refused to show weakness, and said directly, "You must know that Hong Kong has nearly 100 billion US dollars in foreign exchange reserves. There are few countries in the world that can surpass them. is it possible?"

"Of course it is possible for us!" Yusuf immediately interjected, "If the rescue funds allocated by the IMF are fully in place and used where they should be used, we can implement the fixed exchange rate system at this time. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Today, in short, we can become a second Hong Kong."

  The face of the person who refuted was ashen, and he couldn't say a word anymore. He knew very well that Tommy and some other corrupt bureaucrats stole dollars and gold from the treasury. Although both parties knew it well, once one party pointed it out, the nature of the matter was completely different, Speaking of this, he could only shut his mouth resentfully.

"I also think it may be a good thing to restore the fixed exchange rate system in due course, to show the market our strength and confidence, just like what the president said on TV." Ali Shaster from Sumatra said with a smile, "I always announce this and that on TV, but it's all thunderous and rainy. If you say too much, others won't take it too seriously. Why don't you choose to fix the exchange rate system at a certain point, and the entire market will be destroyed. We were shocked."

  Hearing his seemingly joking words, the corners of the mouths of everyone on Tommy's side twitched, thinking that the price of this shock might be too high.

  Suharto did not twitch the corners of his mouth. In fact, his face had undergone surgery and his muscles had already become rigid, so his expression has always been relatively dull. However, after hearing Ali Shaster's words, an imperceptible light shot out from his cloudy eyeballs.

"Since the beginning of this year, our money has depreciated enough. Up to now, it has reached about 8000, which can be said to be close to the normal level. This is the best time to restore the fixed exchange rate system. In addition to the convenience of settlement In addition, we are the first country to announce to the world that it is out of the currency crisis. Besides, I have estimated that the daily trading volume of the shield is only tens of millions of dollars. I can’t do it.” Just as Shaster finished speaking, the actual leader of Sulawesi named Mahmoud Alex who was sitting next to him also jumped out.

At this time, even if Tommy's people on the opposite side were too slow, they could react. Seeing them speaking one after another, all of them supported the establishment of a fixed exchange rate system, this made them stop arguing and start concentrating on Look at the opposite performance.

"That's right, besides, the IMF and the World Bank's aid funds will continue to come in. As long as we can increase the cost of the short side, they will be dragged down sooner or later." Another Henry Rudolph from Papua's Illian Island also said: Open your mouth and say.

  …

  The explanations of all parties finally ended after an hour and a half, and the two sides were divided into two factions because of their different views.

The camp is very clear. All those sitting on Habibie's side are "feudal officials" who more or less hold part of the power. Sufu Habibi, in his oil field alone, there are as many as tens of thousands of workers who can immediately fight with guns.

On the other side, Suharto's son Tommy is the representative. They are representatives of the "central government bureaucrats". Change the current exchange rate system as a means.

  In fact, the so-called "central" Tommy faction is simply unable to compete with the other party. However, after all, they have the backing of the president, so even if they are beaten into the city, they will not be timid at all.

  In the end, both sides will turn their attention to President Suharto, after all, he is the one who has the final decision.

"Here, do you all think that the fixed exchange rate system may be a good choice?" Suharto's face showed a rare smile, but it was a little uglier than crying, "You, you, and you, you agree?"

  Yusuf Habibi, Ali Shaster and others who were pointed by his fingers nodded, and other people who were not pointed also nodded in agreement.

"Since you have all made such a decision, I will naturally not take everyone's good intentions away!" Suharto nodded, stood up and said, "I will let the people of the Central Bank follow up on this opinion as soon as possible, and within two weeks Give you a satisfactory answer. Today is April 1, and I will make a final decision before April 15. Well, the meeting is over now!"

Smiles appeared on the faces of many "feudal officials". They knew that Suharto's statement was actually a decision to adopt their opinions. It is said that they were adopted, but in fact it may be more accurate to say that they were forced to accept. .

  Indonesia is an island country consisting of about 17,508 islands. It is the largest archipelagic country in the world. Its territory spans Asia and Oceania. The largest islands are Kalimantan where Yusuf is located, Sumatra where Ali is located, Sulawesi where Mahmud is located, Papua Ilian where Henry is located, and Java where the capital Jakarta is located. The chaotic religion and multi-ethnic culture have brewed batches of powerful local forces, most of whom are clamoring for independence every day. But today, the actual controllers of these big islands launched the act of "forcing the palace" at the same time. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is a premeditated plan long ago. In this case, even if Suharto has thousands of reluctance, he can only agree first.

   "Dad, if you really adopt a fixed exchange rate system, we will become sinners through the ages!" After everyone left, Tommy frowned and said to Suharto who was still sitting upright.

"I have you as a villain, and I have become a sinner through the ages!" Suharto gave Tommy a vicious look, and gave the crutch in his hand a heavy blow, "Do you think I didn't think of it? And, I also thought about it." , how to shirk the responsibility of this farce!"

   Thank you book friend a13702297 for voting for the monthly ticket! Thanks to Crazy Maniac 0 for rewarding this book! Although there are many difficulties, the author will try his best to spare time to write, thank you for your support!

  

  

  (end of this chapter)