RI Hails US Agreement To Avoid Fiscal Cliff

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia has hailed the agreement made by the US government and Congress to avoid fiscal cliff as a positive development for global economy.

"I think the impact of fiscal cliff avoidance would be better than if the fiscal cliff was not prevented," Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said here on Thursday.

He said economic conditions in Europe had not yet shown signs of improvement and so if no agreement was reached over the fiscal cliff problem it could have a negative impact on the world economy.

Agus however predicted that improvement in the US conditions would only be temporary and therefore, he said Indonesia must keep preparing itself for the worst possible crisis.

"Actually, we have not yet seen that the problem is already over as what has been agreed upon in the deal was mere postponement in nature and so caution must continue to be taken," he said.

He said what the government could do to strengthen the country's economic resilience was assuring good investment climate and providing adequate infrastructure to support development efforts. (*/M038/T007)