President Suharto attended a military ceremony on Thursday and said his government was doing its best to seek a solution to the current economic and monetary problems, Indonesian radio reported.

Speaking at a ceremony to swear in 947 junior officers at Jakarta's Merdeka Palace, he described the situation as a "difficult challenge and test".

"During this difficult time, let no one among us try to fish in troubled waters," he said in remarks broadcast by the radio.

"People from all walks of life must strengthen national resilience in all fields so we will be able to overcome this difficult challenge and test.

Whatever the situation, our national development must be based on the emergence and growth of our initiative and creativity.

"This means that in maintaining national stability, we must ensure there is always an opportunity for people's initiative and creativity to emerge.

These are the two main tasks of all the Indonesian Armed Forces personnel.

On the one hand, they must safeguard the national development from all threats; On the other they must ensure that people's initiative and creativity, which serve as the nation's engine of growth, emerges and grows so as to cope with challenges in the coming age." Fears about the president's health affected the stock market and financial sectors recently.

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

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