Star struck

摘要

After months of inaction, Indonesia's most important government agency took a big step this week. But was it a step in the right direction? On February 8th the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (ibra), the body that took over a large chunk of Indonesia's industrial assets after the financial system collapsed, used its influence as a shareholder to remove the two top executives of Astra International, a big car maker. Astra is not only one of Indonesia's best-known firms, it has also been touted as one of its brightest performers during the financial crisis, changing its strategy in response to falling trade barriers and restructuring almost $2 billion in debt.