71.   He said the nation was not only in a monetary crisis, but also the effects of the El Nio weather phenomenon had made agricultural growth almost stagnant.

72.   He said the consolidation program could help minimize increasing crime rates now blamed on the monetary crisis by employing local residents and recently unemployed workers.

73.   He said the government has taken the necessary steps to solve the monetary crisis, with the hope that the national economy would soon recover.

74.   He said the monetary crisis had also hit the local property sector which resulted in declining demand for logs.

75.   He said to cope with the monetary crisis, the company would switch to locally made equipment over imports to cut back on dollar expenditures.

76.   He told Antara Thursday that current fare levels were no longer realistic because of the inflationary effect of the monetary crisis.

77.   He urged the government to learn from the strict measures being taken by neighboring countries to tackle the monetary crisis.

78.   He said the regional monetary crisis, which also affected buyers such as Japan and Korea, had resulted in a decline in the regional property sector.

79.   His call followed reports that the monetary crisis and the resulting soaring price of newsprint had forced the daily to suspend publication temporarily.

80.   Hikam, however, said that the monetary crisis was not technical at all.