New Indonesian cabinet includes surprises

1.00pm

JAKARTA - Indonesia's new president appointed surprise candidate Jusuf Anwar to the powerful post of finance minister on Wednesday and named Supreme Court judge Abdul Rahman Saleh as attorney general to fight endemic corruption.

Announcing his cabinet late on Wednesday, some 13 hours after taking the oath of office, former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said businessman Aburizal Bakrie would be chief economics minister.

He named free-market economist Mari Pangestu as trade minister.

Yudhoyono re-appointed Purnomo Yusgiantoro to the important job of oil and mining minister. The decision means Indonesia will keep the Opec presidency until the end of this year.

The choice of Anwar, 63, a low-key economist currently working at the Asian Development Bank, had not been expected, while the appointment of Bakrie might concern markets over the $1 billion in debts his conglomerate racked up during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.

The role of chief security minister went to former armed forces chief Widodo AS, foreign minister to the incumbent Hassan Wirajuda and defence minister to Juwono Sudarsono, who has previously held the job.

Yudhoyono swept to power in Indonesia's first direct presidential election last month on promises to speed up economic growth, create more jobs and fight terrorism.

Indonesia's economy is not growing fast enough to absorb millions of new job entrants each year while investment as a percentage of GDP is at its lowest level since the early 1970s partly because of graft and an unpredictable legal system.

- REUTERS