"The delay actually was not that good (for Indonesia)," Darmin Nasution, the countrys coordinating minister for economic affairs, noted here on Friday.
He stated that the Fed had canceled the rate hike after taking into consideration the unemployment rate in the United States, which is still very high, while the inflation rate had yet to reach the expected level.
"Many hope that in November-December, the situation will improve," he said.
He pointed out that the task of the Fed in the United States is different compared to that of Bank Indonesia (BI).
"The Fed is different from the BI as the task of the BI is to only maintain the rupiah exchange rate, while the Fed maintains the value of their currency and employment opportunities, so that it is as easy as in other countries for it to change its policy," he explained.
In view of this, he hoped that the economic players in Indonesia would utilize the incentives and facilities provided by the government, including the one to be issued soon.
"We know that the answer is exports. Nothing can improve the economic condition than exports, and only the business community could do it. The question is where we would export," he affirmed.
In view of this, Darmin said Indonesia should export to countries that are not affected by the economic slowdown.
He remarked that the efforts had to be made to create new markets, including in the Middle East, South Africa, and others.
"The second is to attract investment both domestic and foreign one, which is able to bring in funds from overseas," he noted.
Darmin stated that the issuance of the governments first package of economic policies was in essence to simplify licensing procedures, so that business entities could develop their businesses with greater ease.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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