Asian Markets

Hey, This Isn't Fantasy Island, Mr. Suharto

In the midst of Indonesia's economic free fall last week, BILL CLINTON, in New York City for a fund raiser, delayed Air Force One's takeoff from a fog-shrouded Kennedy Airport to read the riot act to Indonesia's strongman, SUHARTO. The two leaders spent what must have been an uncomfortable 25 minutes on the phone as translators relayed Clinton's demand that Suharto immediately implement an International Monetary Fund austerity program that Indonesia agreed to last October. Earlier, Suharto had seemed oblivious to the crisis when he went on television to announce a budget woven of pure fantasy, thereby setting off panic. The...

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