March 26, 2025 (EIRNS)—Indonesia, a new member of the BRICS, is being hit by capital flight, pressure to devalue its currency, and international demands that all development and social spending by the government be cut to the bone. These kinds of London/Wall Street financial attacks are as much a part of hybrid warfare—and are sometimes more lethal—than outright military attacks. An article in the March 25 Financial Times makes it clear that the City of London’s policy is to topple Indonesia’s Subianto government, much like they did with Suharto before him in 1998, and that they will try to do the same with any Global South government that engages in “fiscal largesse” such as providing free lunches to hungry schoolchildren and pregnant mothers. It’s what Lyndon LaRouche used to refer to as IMF genocide carried out with the accountant’s pencil. Brazil and Egypt, also BRICS countries, are currently being subjected to similar treatment.
The FT article reports that “Indonesia’s rupiah fell to its weakest level against the U.S. dollar since the Asian financial crisis of 1998 over mounting fears about the policies of President Prabowo Subianto and their impact on the fiscal position of southeast Asia’s largest economy.” Capital flight has forced the Indonesian Central Bank to intervene to stop the free fall, and “has eaten into its own roughly $154 billion reserves pile by about $1.5 billion to fund interventions in the first two months of this year, according to central bank data.”
The FT article continues: “Even though the central bank blamed external factors, investors have primarily been spooked by the greater fiscal largesse by former army general Prabowo. His flagship program to provide free lunches to schoolchildren and pregnant mothers has cost an estimated $28 billion a year and put a huge strain on government finances.… ‘The big picture is that of a fiscally less responsible government,’ said Viktor Szabo, a fund manager at Aberdeen Investments.”
Back in 1997, they note, the financial crisis “spread across Asia and forced Indonesia and other countries into IMF bailouts. Economic misery then inflamed street protests that helped bring down the Suharto regime.” The article quotes JP Morgan analysts to conclude that the situation “could keep markets volatile given the government’s aggressive spending plans.
It is noteworthy that New Development Bank President Dilma Rousseff, set up by the BRICS, is currently in Indonesia to meet with government officials about various infrastructure projects, and their plans to join the New Development Bank.
