We will soon carry out tightening or accelerate government spending targets on domestic products.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The demand for manufactured products is expected to increase in the run-up to the 2024 General Elections and the year-end holidays, Industry Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arif informed here on Tuesday.

"There are some events that are predicted to increase the demand for manufactured products, such as the elections, the new academic year, and the year-end holidays. We see that these events can support the movement of the manufacturing industry, especially from the demand side," Arif said.

At a press conference on this month's Industrial Confidence Index (IKI), he said that the industrial sector, especially sub-sectors that use imported raw materials and whose products are sold domestically, has been affected by the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate.

"We will soon carry out tightening or accelerate government spending targets on domestic products," he added.

Arif expressed the hope that the government spending program will help increase demand for domestic products, as well as household and private sector demand.

"We also encourage bans and restrictions in some sub-sectors to control imported goods. We tighten the flow of imported goods so that domestic industrial products can compete in the domestic market," he said.

Based on the October 2023 IKI report, around 61.0 percent of business actors are optimistic about business conditions over the next 6 months.

The majority of respondents expressed confidence that the domestic market condition would improve due to better government policies.

As many as 24.9 percent of business actors surveyed said they believed that their business conditions would remain stable for the next 6 months. This percentage is the same as the previous month.

"Meanwhile, 14 percent of business actors have pessimistic views on business conditions in the next 6 months, an increase compared to the previous month of 11.6 percent," Arif said.

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Translator: Ade J, Kenzu
Editor: Sri Haryati
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