"The government and Bank Indonesia will continue to coordinate the policy to mitigate the various challenges of inflation in 2022, both global and domestic challenges," he informed while chairing a high-level meeting of the Central Inflation Control Team (HLM TPIP), which was held virtually on Wednesday.
Strengthening work programs and inflation control policy strategies, both central and regional, as well as policy communication synergies has become vital for supporting inflation control efforts amid many risks, the minister said.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the government and BI agreed on five strategic steps to strengthen inflation control, he informed. This is aimed at consistently maintaining inflation within the target range of 1–3 percent in 2022 to accelerate national economic recovery through mitigating the risk of future inflation, he said.
The first strategic step is to strengthen policy coordination to maintain macroeconomic stability and boost the momentum of national economic recovery, he revealed.
The second is to mitigate the impact of upside risks, which include the impact of normalizing global liquidity policies and increasing global commodity prices on inflation and people's purchasing power, he said. The next step is to keep inflation in volatile foods in the range of 3–5 percent, he said.
"These efforts will be carried out by maintaining the availability of supplies and distribution, especially ahead of the National Religious Holiday (HBKN)," said Hartarto.
The fourth step is to strengthen the synergy of policy communication to support the management of public inflation expectations, he said.
The last step is to strengthen coordination between the central and regional governments in controlling inflation through holding the 2022 National Coordination Meeting on Inflation Control, themed ‘Digitizing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Food Sector for Access and Price Stabilization,’ he continued.
The meeting also agreed to guarantee the implementation of policies and work programs under the 2022–2024 Inflation Control Road Map.
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"The road map is designed to answer the challenge of controlling medium-term inflation, which is reflected in more detail in the work program of the Central Inflation Control Team, which is decided every year," said deputy for macroeconomic and financial coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy Iskandar Simorangkir, who is also the secretary of the Central Inflation Control Team.
Meanwhile, policy synergy between the government and Bank Indonesia is expected to maintain the Consumer Price Index inflation, he said.
These efforts are also expected to further encourage an increase in people's purchasing power as part of the implementation of the national economic recovery program in the midst of increasing global risks, he added.
The government hopes that low and stable inflation can support economic recovery as well as strong and sustainable economic growth towards Advanced Indonesia, he remarked.
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Translator: Katriana
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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