"Our national position or attitude in the days ahead is that we will not choose a format like the one we had in the past -- cooperation with IMF -- when we had to sign a Letter of Intent and accept very tight conditions which were sometimes incompatible with our particular situation," he said here Sunday.
He said Indonesia had 10 years of experience cooperating with IMF which was later considered inappropriate, so in the face of the present global financial crisis it was better for the country not to have any relations with IMF again.
"In light of our experience with IMF, we have now to be more careful in entering into partnerships. To cooperate with international financial institutions, we should make sure that the measures, approaches, and the ways in which the problems are to be overcome will be right and suited to our national conditions," Yudhoyono said.
Asked what the government should do if the global monetary crisis jeopardized the national economy, President Yudhoyono said Indonesia would have a bilateral cooperation with the World Bank.
"It is difficult for us to choose a cooperation package with IMF again," the president said, adding that the current monetary crisis was the right moment for international monetary institutions such as IMF and the World Bank to revitalize their roles in the world economy.
According to Yudhoyono, IMF assistance with its strict requirements and conditions was considered ineffective in overcoming global economic problems.
"In my opinion, we should not use a single formula to overcome all problems," he said.
