REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia had recovered from crisis when it sold state telecommunication operator PT Indosat to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in 2002, Institute for Development of Economic and Finance (INDEF) economist Fadhil Hasan said.

"When President Megawati Soekarnoputri was in office, the economy growth was good at 4 percent, the inflation rate stood at 9.5 percent, and the oil production reached 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) compared to 800 thousand bpd now. This means that the economic growth had accelerated," he said at a discussion "Revealing the Dark History of Indosat Sale" here on Thursday.

During the President BJ Habibie government in 1998, the economy began to stabilize. Habibie managed to stabilize the rupiah to Rp6,000-Rp7,000 per dollar after it plummeted to Rp16,000 from a pre-crisis level of approximately Rp2,500, he noted.

"During the Gus Dur era, the economy began to grow positively. So, when President Megawati Soekarnoputri came to office the economy grew by 4 percent," he pointed out.

This confirms that presidential candidate Joko Widodo's reply at the recent presidential candidate debate was wrong, he said.

Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, said at the debate that the government had sold Indosat to Temasek because of economic crisis.

To offset the budget deficit in 2002, the government did not have to sell Indosat, which has strategic meaning for Indonesia.

"We must remember that Indosat has broad orbit and frequency," he added.

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