No quick fix, Suharto told

THE FORMER US vice-president, Walter Mondale, warned President Suharto yesterday that there are no "quick fixes" for the economic crisis ravaging Indonesia, and that the country's only hope is to push through the reforms which it has agreed with the International Monetary Fund.

"I came ... with the basic purpose of seeing to it that the United States, and others working with Indonesia, see [through] the implementation of these IMF guidelines, the restoration of confidence and the stability that's crucial to this country," said Mr Mondale who arrived on Monday as the personal envoy of President Clinton.

State Department officials have made it clear, however, that the US will not suggest that Suharto declines the renomination as president that is expected to be made next week.

In the last few weeks, Mr Suharto has been toying with the idea of stabilising the rupiah by pegging its value to the US dollar, an idea which is regarded with alarm by the IMF. Last week, White House officials were reported anonymously as saying that the US would oppose the next stage of the IMF's $43bn (pounds 27bn) bail-out package if such a step was taken.