Sri Mulyani: How cool?

Smart, sharp comments and good looking! These are ingredients of a perfect combination for talk shows and the best receipt to famous. No need to publish a book. No need to read books too! Many economists are simply like that in Indonesia.
How about Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the minister for development planning and the top candidate to replace Jusuf Anwar as the minister of finance?
Born in Tanjung Karang August 26, 1962, Ani married to Tonny Sumartono (an economist, recently some reports said Tonny is advisor to Astra Foundation/YDBA). Mother of three (Dewinta Illinia, Adwin Haryo Indrawan, and Luqman Indra Pambudi), Ani is the favorite student of professor Widjojo Nitisastro, Indonesia’s most prominent economist in the last few decades.
Graduated from University of Indonesia in 1986, Mulyani earned her master (1990) and PhD (1992) in economics from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign before returning to Indonesia to become one of the foremost policy experts to guide Indonesia's economic reforms.
Under Abdurrahman Wahid administration, Mulyani was board member of National Economic Council.

Wahid’s successor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, was reportedly close to her. But she moved to Georgia, US in August 2001 as a visiting professor. During her years as visiting professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at the Georgia State University (2001-2002), Ani was the independent commissioner at listed automotive giant PT Astra International Tbk.

She was resigned from Astra in January 2003 and replaced by another economist Mari Pangestu who now become the trade minister. Juwono Sudarsono (minister of defense) was also appointed Astra commissioner in early 2003 with Mari Pangestu.
Ani was also commissioner at Unilever Indonesia for sometime. Public mainly accepted these commissioner appointments, a kind of ‘custom’ in Indonesia to have economists as commissioners. But her job as executive director at International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2002-2004 cost Ani criticism, mainly from those who claimed themselves nationalists.

When president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was about to set up the cabinet last year, Mulyani was tipped to be the finance minister. But some rejects her nomination as she was (still?) stamped as a pro-IMF economist. This time, when her name repeatedly mentioned as the candidate for finance minister, no visible rejection. But could she be better than Jusuf Anwar and as cool as her face to guard the fiscal policy?

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