"The new policy package will be announced before August 17, 2017," Economy Coordinator Minister Darmin Nasution said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will launch the new Economic Policy Package XVI on ease of investments in Indonesia, ahead of its 72nd Independence Day.

"The new policy package will be announced before August 17, 2017," Economy Coordinator Minister Darmin Nasution said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According to him, the Economic Policy Package XVI would not necessarily be revealed during the Presidents national address to the Parliament. "The address only covers major issues, this is more technical," he remarked.

He also stressed that the last 15 packages that were announced earlier had been implemented and were ongoing.

Darmin stated that the new policy would push investments and improve the economic development in the second semester of 2017.

"We will launch a big program to accelerate the investment program. All the permits required at the central and municipal level will be accommodated in a single model. This may be announced in a week, and it will be part of the economic package," Darmin revealed.

According to him, the major task of the government would be to reduce the products in the restricted list.

"We will reduce the restriction list from 49 percent to 17 percent, but it is a huge task and has to be done gradually, maybe 20 percent at a time," he noted.

Meanwhile, Darmin pointed out that the current debt was not incurred by the Joko Widodo government alone.

"Right now, the governments debt is Rp3,600 trillion; when the Jokowi government was sworn in, the debt was Rp2,700 trillion," he said.

He stated that the interest itself would reach 700 trillion in three years, so unless the government did something, the debt would increase to Rp3,400 trillion.

"Now, we have to make a choice; whether to have a 3,600-trillion debt with development or a 3,400-trillion debt without it," he added.

He mentioned that the countrys debt position was safe, because it was being used for productive projects, such as infrastructure building.

"The debt ratio shows our condition is safe, because it is lower than other countries, such as Malaysia," he emphasized.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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