President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has appointed Finance Minister Sri Mulyani as acting coordinating minister for the economy, replacing Boediono, who now sits as the central bank governor.

Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters of the news in Jakarta on Saturday just before departing for Bali with the president to attend an art festival.

“The president has signed a decree appointing Finance Minister Sri Mulyani as the acting coordinating minister for the economy, replacing Boediono,” Sudi said as quoted by Antara newswire.

The decree, signed Friday night, means Sri now holds a dual position as both coordinating minister and finance minister, Sudi said.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) praised the decision, saying Sri was the right person for the job.

“She has always been our choice, either her or Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo. But then, Purnomo has to concentrate on his field,” Kadin chairman Mohammad Hidayat said, referring to Purnomo’s task to increase the country’s oil output amid soaring prices and increasing consumption.

Sri, on the other hand, has the necessary expertise and experience on safeguarding the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals, he said.

“Moreover, she is already used to replacing Boediono as the acting coordinating minister whenever he isn’t available, or is on duty abroad or on leave,” Hidayat said.

On the practical side, he said, Sri would only serve for a year before the current administration ended following next year’s presidential election.

Therefore, appointing a replacement from outside the current economic team would have resulted in a lengthy search for a very short innings, he said.

Hidayat said Sri’s biggest challenge as the head of the economic team was to improve the weak coordination between government officials of related departments and to streamline bureaucracy.

Economist Fauzi Ikhsan said Sri would face the same challenges Boediono had, particularly in coordinating economic ministers whose backgrounds in political parties tended to give them different approaches to economic matters compared to pure technocrats.

“Even Boediono had a tough time coordinating those who came from political parties, even though he was highly regarded for his experience and seniority,” Fauzi said.

The challenge, he said, was likely to get tougher for Sri with the coming presidential and legislative elections, as some ministers would be distracted by political matters.

However, he added that Sri had a strong presidential backing and demanded significant authority as finance minister.

Sri, a mother of three, was first appointed to finance minister in December 2005, when she left her post as state minister of National Development Planning.

Before joining the administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was sworn in as Indonesia’s first directly-elected president in October 2004, Sri had previously served as executive director of the International Monetary Fund, where she managed operations in 13 countries in Southeast Asia. She was the first Indonesian woman to hold the position.

Sri was born in Tanjungkarang, Lampung, on Aug. 26, 1962, and achieved an executive doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois, the United States.

In 2001, Mulyani left Indonesia for Atlanta, the United States, to serve as a consultant for the U.S. Aid Agency USAID in a program to strengthen Indonesia’s autonomy. She lectured on the Indonesian economy at Georgia University.

She was appointed a member of the National Economic Council during Abdurrahman Wahid’s administration.

Thejakartapost