open conflict between economic technocrats implementing IMF plans and Suharto-related vested interests, further undermining confidence in the economy. The government's unrealistic 1998 budget and Suharto's announcement of Habibie as the next vice president both caused further currency instability. Suharto reluctantly agreed to a wider-reaching IMF package of structural reforms in January 1998 in exchange for $43 billion in liquidity (with a third letter of intent with the IMF being signed in April of that year). However, the rupiah dropped to a sixth of its pre-crisis value, and rumours and panic led to a run on stores and pushed up prices. In January 1998, the government was forced to provide emergency liquidity assistance (BLBI), issue blanket guarantees for bank deposits, and set up the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency to take over management of troubled banks in order to prevent the collapse of the financial system. Based on the IMF recommendations, the government increased interest rates to 70% pa in February 1998 to control high inflation caused by the higher prices of imports. However, this action restricted the availability of credit to the corporate sector. Unrest, violence, and riots Despite the worsening economic situation, during the 1998 General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly, Suharto was unanimously re-elected president, with Try Sutrisno being replaced by minister B. J. Habibie as vice president. Suharto's choice of Habibie was poorly received, causing the rupiah to continue its fall. All the while, he stacked the new Seventh Development Cabinet with several of his own family and business associates. The government's increase of fuel prices by 70% in May triggered rioting in Medan, North Sumatra. With Suharto increasingly seen as the source of the country's mounting economic and political crises, prominent political figures, including Muslim politician Amien Rais, spoke out against his presidency, and in January 1998, university students began organizing nationwide demonstrations. A demonstration at the Bandung Institute of Technology saw 500 demonstrators, and by March, larger demonstrations had occurred at other universities. Including the University of Indonesia and Gadjah Mada University. On 9 May 1998, a police officer, Dadang Rusmana, was reported to have been killed at a demonstration at Djuanda University. These demonstrators were protesting against massive price rises for fuel and energy, and were demanding that President Suharto step down. On 9 May, Suharto left Indonesia for a Group of 15 summit in Cairo, Egypt. Meanwhile, at Jakarta's Trisakti University, university students