President Jokowi Tells Ministers to Speed Up Gov’t Spending

President Jokowi delivers his remarks during a Cabinet Meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/7). Photo by: BPMI

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered his Cabinet Ministers to accelerate Government spending to boost economic growth.

“I am monitoring Ministries’ spending on a daily basis because the third quarter is important. Once it can generate economic growth, the fourth quarter will be easier and next year, God willing, will be easier,” the President said in his remarks during Cabinet Meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (7/7).

According to the President, government spending is the main driver of the economic growth amid the ongoing pandemic.

The President also ordered regulations on Government spending be simplified.

“I order that (the Government spending) be accelerated, especially at ministries with large budgets. Ministry of Education and Culture has a budget of Rp77.7 trillion, Ministry of Social Affairs has a budget of Rp104.4 trillion, Ministry of Defense has a budget of Rp117.9 trillion, the Indonesian National Police has a budget of Rp92.6 trillion, Ministry of Transportation has a budget of Rp32.7 trillion t,” President Jokowi said.

The President went on to say that government spending must also prioritize domestic products, citing an example that Ministry of Defense should buy products of state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia, state arms company PT Pindad and state shipbuilder PT PAL.

Indonesia, the President added, is able to produce medical equipment needed to handle COVID-19 pandemic, including pharmaceutical drugs, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test kits and rapid test kits.

“We produce a bid number of face masks. We also produce 17 million units of personal protective equipment per month, compared to approximately 4 to 5 million units that we use,” the President said.

The President reiterated his instruction to Cabinet Ministers to work hard to meet public needs.

“Don’t assume that we are in an ordinary situation. Economic stimulus needs to be improved. Social assistance has been relatively good. Health care needs to be accelerated and economic stimulus for MSMEs, medium and big business needs to be improved,” the President said. (BPMI/EN)

Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Reviewed by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas