Spending from the state budget, regional budget, and SOEs budget must be allocated to purchase domestic productsJakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that state and regional budgets as well as state-owned enterprises (SOEs) budget must be allocated to purchase domestic products.
"Spending from the state budget, regional budget, and SOEs budget must be allocated to purchase domestic products," Jokowi told officials of the Provincial Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) from across the country at the Indonesian miniature park Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta, Tuesday.
Attendees at the event were Minister of State Secretariat Pratikno, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono, KADIN chief M. Arsjad Rasjid, and chiefs of provincial KADIN.
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"It would be ridiculous if the state budget that we collected from tax payment, non-tax revenue, and royalties are spent to buy imported products. No, we cannot do that anymore," Jokowi noted.
The president spoke of having urged regional governments to commit to utilizing the regional budget to purchase domestic products.
"There is a commitment (to spend) Rp897 trillion, and this is the opportunity for MSMEs that had been listed in the e-catalog," he added.
"This can boost our economic growth, and we thank God for the achievement to control the inflation rate at 4.9 percent, increase economic growth to 5.01 percent in the first quarter, and 5.44 percent in the second quarter (at a time) when other countries were seeing declining growth," Jokowi elaborated.
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He further noted that electricity consumption had grown 7.3 percent thereby indicating the industry's revival and expansion of factories having started.
"Loan growth has reached 10.6 percent, from earlier one to three percent. What does it mean? This will spur our economy," he remarked.
Third-party funds grew by 9.13 percent, while non-performing loans remained unchanged at 2.86 percent, which is still in a good condition, Jokowi stated.
"These achievements must be echoed to encourage optimism, although we still have to remain cautious about the global economic uncertainty," the president remarked.
He expressed hope that KADIN would be able to build sound communication with the government.
"The government and business sector must be well-connected. If you have something to convey, inform it to the chief (of KADIN) and the government. Thus, there will be no disruption in our efforts to improve the nation's welfare," Jokowi stated.
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Translator: Desca L Natalia, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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