First came Mario Draghi. Then it was Haruhiko Kuroda’s turn. Now, Perry Warjiyo has signaled “whatever it takes” as Covid-19 fallout savages Southeast Asia’s 2020.
The reference here is to then-European Central Bank President Draghi’s 2012 catchphrase for a level of monetary activism unseen in generations.
A year later, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda wowed markets with his pledge for the Bank of Japan to “do whatever it can” to revive growth.
Now, in Jakarta, Warjiyo is grabbing the aggressive-easing mantle. The Bank Indonesia governor is raising the bar in tantalizing ways that has the rest of Asia looking on with keen interest while also prompting considerable apprehension.
