Suharto Seeks Changes in IMF Recovery Plan

JAKARTA, Indonesia —  Under pressure to halt soaring food prices, President Suharto called for changes Sunday to an International Monetary Fund plan to help save his limping economy.

Suharto told the 1,000-member People’s Consultative Assembly, which is expected to reelect him unopposed this week, that he is committed to carrying out the IMF’s $43-billion rescue package.

However, Suharto said additional strategies are needed as life gets tougher in the world’s fourth-most-populous country. The bailout was approved last year and revised in January after the crisis worsened.

“Despite the fact that we already have started to carry out clear and fundamental reforms and a restructuring program, there are no signs yet that the situation has improved,” he said in a televised speech.

Suharto did not specify which reform changes he wanted.

There’s been some worry in financial markets that Indonesia has been too slow to follow through with IMF reforms. The plan calls for abolishing monopolies and other privileges that have made Suharto’s family and associates wealthy.