"With this budget, policy directives to be enforced include, firstly, to support economic recovery steps in line with national priorities," President Joko Widodo noted in his speech to deliver the 2021 Draft State Budget and Financial Note at the DPR-RI Plenary Meeting for the 2020-2021 Session Year at the MPR/DPR Building, Jakarta, on Friday.
President Widodo expounded that the steps to bring about economic recovery in accordance with national priorities, include boosting accessibility and connectivity of economic growth centers, offering incentive support for regions to attract investment, improving investment service systems, and extending support for MSMEs.
The head of state also remarked that the second policy directive pertaining to TKDD aimed to optimize the utilization of profit-sharing funds to support health management, social safety nets, and economic recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.
According to Widodo, the third directive was aimed at channeling 25 percent of the general transfer funds to expedite regional economic recovery and human resource development programs.
The fourth directive lays emphasis on the utilization of Regional Incentive Funds (DID) for digitizing the education and health sectors in addition to empowering MSMEs.
The fifth directive pertains to refocusing and addressing the implications with regard to the types, fields, and activities of special allocation funds (DAK).
In line with the sixth directive, DAK of the non-physical nature also bolster the education of human resources through the independent learning program, as well as additional strategic sectors, such as funds for protecting women and child services, investment facilitation funds, and food security service funds.
According to the president, the seventh directive aims to streamline the allocation of village funds for village economic recovery and development of priority sectors, such as information and communication technology, as well as the development of tourist villages and supporting food security.
"In the last five years, results of the utilization of the regions and village funds (TKDD) have been felt by the community through improvement in the performance of basic public services, including household access to drinking water and proper sanitation facilities, as well as childbirth assisted by health workers," he pointed out.
President Jokowi also highlighted the declining level of inequality in rural areas as was indicated by the lower Gini ratio, from 0.316 in 2016 to 0.315 in 2019.
Likewise, the percentage of poor people in rural areas has decreased, from 13.96 percent in 2016 to 12.60 percent in 2019.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: M Razi, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
