This meeting is part of a series of first meetings between the Ministers of Finance and Governors of the ASEAN Central Bank (1st ASEAN Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting/AFMGM).
On the occasion, Thailand's finance minister congratulated and lauded Indonesia as the host for holding the 1st AFMGM.
Regarding the plan to hold the 2nd AFMGM, Minister of Finance Arkhom also fully supports and provides constructive input for the success of the second meeting of Ministers of Finance and Governors of ASEAN Central Banks that will be held in August.
On the same occasion, Minister Mulyani also congratulated Thailand for being the host of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in 2026.
During the meeting, Arkhom and Sri Mulyani shared information on economic performance and domestic policies of the two countries.
Arkhom noted that the recovery of key economic sectors, such as tourism, had not been matched by the recovery of employment conditions in this sector, while non-oil and gas exports continued to strengthen, especially those of food commodities and motorized vehicles.
In response to this, Thailand is currently adopting fiscal health measures after experiencing an increase in state spending to deal with the pandemic while concurrently providing social protection to vulnerable people that caused the foreign debt to increase sharply.
Moreover, Arkhom remarked that the Government of Thailand is also working on tax reforms to increase state revenues as well as striving to restore the deficit to below three percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Responding to Arkhom's statements, Sri Mulyani expressed Indonesia's appreciation for Thailand's economic and fiscal performance and stated that Indonesia continues to strive to maintain the state budget deficit which in 2022 was below three percent of the GDP.
Efforts are being made by continuing fiscal reforms and putting additional efforts to support the recovery of the business world and priority sectors as well as encouraging economic growth through efforts to attract foreign direct investment, particularly in the manufacturing sector, such as the electric vehicle industry and its components, as well as downstream minerals.
Moreover, Sri Mulyani and Arkhom discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries, including sharing knowledge as well as cooperation in logistics and customs.
The two ministers also agreed that currently, ASEAN member countries need to wisely respond to banking problems in the United States amid global inflationary pressures that had yet to subside.
Related news: Financial exclusion presents tough challenge for ASEAN: Sri Mulyani
Related news: Nearly 25 million users connected to QRIS, BI-FAST: BI
Translator: Agatha Olivia, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
