President Jokowi Orders Cabinet Members to Make Effective Policies Amid Commodity Price Rise

President Jokowi delivers directives at the Plenary Cabinet Session on Tuesday (04/05) at the State Palace, Jakarta, (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Agung)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered Cabinet members to make effective policies amid rising inflation and rising commodity prices at the global level.

“(Prices) of basic commodities have started to rise. We must stay vigilant regarding the availability of food and energy supplies, especially before Eid al-Fitr. To that end, all participants present here, members of the cabinet, all Ministers and Heads of Institutions, must make effective policies. Our responses, our policies, and our statements must reflect the sense of crisis. We must empathize with the people’s burden.” the President said in his directives at the Plenary Cabinet Session, Tuesday (04/05), at the State Palace, Jakarta.

The President said that inflation rates were rising in various countries. The United States recorded 7.9 percent inflation, the European Union recorded 7.5 percent inflation, and Turkey recorded 54 percent inflation. The increase in inflation has an impact on rising energy prices, including fuel oil in Indonesia.

“The situation has forced us to increase fuel prices. Therefore, yesterday (price of) Pertamax rose. To that end, we must be vigilant, every day and every week, to keep calculating gas prices and, besides energy prices, food prices. The two things are very important for us to monitor, and we must always synchronize our measures to prevent mistakes in making policies,” the President said.

The president has also ordered the Cabinet members to pay attention to work details and properly disseminate the policies to the public.

“We must formulate effective policies, make immediate responses, show our leadership on the ground, and make empathetic statement to the people,” he stated.

On that occasion, the President also ordered the Cabinet members to make extra preparation in facing this year’s mudik [annual exodus ahead of Eid al-Fitr] because the people’s demand for mudik is very high this year. The President ordered the Indonesian National Police (Polri), the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and Ministry of Transportation to prepare for the proper implementation of the mudik.

“Do not make mistakes in preparing appropriate homecoming routes. We must minimize congestion during the exodus and the reverse exodus. We must calculate it carefully. Based on the information I got, everyone wants to do mudik this year. So, we have to make extra preparations,” the President said.

Regarding social assistance, the President demanded that the Family Hope Program (PKH) and cooking oil cash assistance to be disbursed as soon as possible before Eid al-Fitr. According to the President, social assistance is needed by the people, especially for the Eid celebrations and for buying basic daily needs.

“The amount of money, Rp 300,000, is really needed by the people, ahead of Eid al-Fitr, to buy cooking oil and other basic needs. I want to remind you that we must also pay attention to cash for work program (Padat Karya). In this tough situation, we need a massive job creation,” the President remarked. (FID/UN) (RI/MMB)