The meeting, which began at 2 p.m. local time, was attended by several ministers in charge of economic and related affairs.
Similarly, last Tuesday (Sept. 10), the head of state led a limited cabinet meeting on economic issues from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time.
Following the most recent meeting, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa told the press that the government had evaluated its four economic-policy packages aimed at stabilizing the national economy.
The new economic policy was announced by the government in August in response to the change in global economic policies that resulted in the depreciation of the rupiah against the US dollar.
"Four economic-policy packages will be launched today in an effort to maintain our current account and stabilize the value of the rupiah against the US dollar," said Minister Rajasa following a limited cabinet meeting on Aug. 23, 2013.
To address current issues affecting the economy, the government is expected to boost exports by reducing taxes for companies that export 30 percent of their products; reduce oil and gas imports by boosting the use of biodiesel; and increase taxes for luxury goods from 75 percent to between 125 and 150 percent, while increasing the production of minerals.
Apart from maintaining the value of the rupiah against the US dollar, the government also plans to maintain a fiscal deficit value of 2.38 percent to ensure the stability of the people`s purchasing power and the inflation rate.
Other policies have been proposed to attract more investments by optimizing the single-window mechanism for obtaining investment permits to simplify the overall process.
"The government is interested in boosting export-oriented investments," Hatta Rajasa added.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
