IMF chief Lagarde to visit Indonesia next week

[WASHINGTON] The International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, heads to Indonesia next week for talks with senior officials and a high-level Asian finance conference, the IMF said on Wednesday.

During her September 1-2 visit, Ms Lagarde will meet with President Joko Widodo and other senior officials, including Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo.

The visit "presents an opportunity to exchange views on recent economic developments, Indonesia's prospects, and its role as an emerging power both in the region and globally," the Washington-based crisis lender said in a statement.

Ms Lagarde's visit comes at a time of heightened volatility in Asian financial markets, largely due to China's economic slowdown and markets turmoil, as well as falling commodity prices that have hammered Indonesia and other emerging-market economies and their currencies.

Last week Indonesia's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged for the sixth consecutive month, as it struggled to stabilise the plunging rupiah following China's surprise currency devaluation the prior week.

Ms Lagarde will participate in a regional conference - Future of Asia's Finance: Financing for Development 2015 - in Jakarta on September 2, co-sponsored by the IMF and Bank Indonesia.

AFP