President Jokowi Orders Finance Minister to Maintain Fiscal Prudence

President Jokowi has a conversation with Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, and President Director of UOB Indonesia Hendra Gunawan at the 2023 United Overseas Bank (UOB) Economic Outlook in Jakarta, Thursday (09/29). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Lukas)

The “domino effect” from the financial crisis, food crisis, and energy crisis has forced all countries in the world to face the uncertainty, according to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

“The (Russia-Ukraine) war will not stop tomorrow, next month or next year. We need to address the uncertainty and our country must maintain its resilience,” the President said in his remarks at the 2023 United Overseas Bank (UOB) Economic Outlook at the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, Jakarta, Thursday (09/29).

On that occasion, the President also ordered Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani to maintain the State Budget prudence.

President Jokowi went on to say that all countries are also facing the problem of inflation which causes the higher price of goods and services. The President said that inflation in Indonesia is relatively under control at 4.6 percent, which is better than inflation in other countries.

According to the President, the controlled inflation was partly due to cooperation between fiscal authority (Minister of Finance) and the central bank (Bank Indonesia).

At the end of his remarks, the President reiterated that the State Budget should be managed prudently and should be used sustainably to deal with the world situation next year which is predicted to be very challenging.

“I always tell the Minister that we must be very prudent in using every penny that we have. We shouldn’t think that the money is only for today or for this year. We must prepare for the future. All international observers say that next year will be more challenging but if we have good preparations, we can make it and we can manage the sustainability of the State Budget and the Regional Budget,” the President remarked. (FID/AIT) (RI/LW)