We are not only striving for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recovery, but we are also looking at the quality of growth
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Government is aiming for qualified economic growth to expedite economic recovery, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated.

"We are not only striving for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recovery, but we are also looking at the quality of growth," Indrawati noted at the 2022 Mandiri Investment Forum in Jakarta, Wednesday.

The minister later emphasized that economic growth should be accompanied by a decrease in the unemployment rate, poverty, and Gini ratio since these three aspects are the main indicators of the quality of growth.

Indrawati also explained that economic growth should be able to create jobs, eradicate poverty, and create more equitable development and welfare for the community.

"This is to ensure that it does not widen the gap between the rich and the poor," she remarked.

The direction of the quality of Indonesia's growth has so far been quite good, thereby translating to the fact that every one percent of growth is able to reduce poverty and unemployment, among others, she noted.

"We will continue our work, so that we can continue to achieve better growth," she affirmed.

Cumulatively, in 2021, Indonesia's economy grew positively to reach 3.69 percent (yoy), better than that in 2020 when it experienced a contraction of 2.07 percent.

The poverty rate in Indonesia also continued to decline, from 11.22 percent in March 2015 to 9.22 percent in September 2019.

However, this downward trend stopped in 2020, as COVID-19 struck Indonesia, thereby causing an increase in the poverty rate to reach 9.78 percent in March 2020. The condition began to improve at 9.71 percent in September 2021.

Meanwhile, of the 140.15 million people in the workforce as of August 2021, some 9.1 million of them are unemployed, or reaching 6.49 percent.

This figure decreased by 0.67 million people from August 2020 when the figure was recorded at 9.77 million people, or 7.07 percent of the total workforce.

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Translator: Astrid F H, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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