Srimul: Indonesia Is One Of The Countries With The Strongest Economic Growth In The World

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Capture the screen of Indonesia's UOB Youtube)

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani revealed that Indonesia is one of the countries that has the strongest and most persistent growth in the world. This is evidenced by economic growth which can be maintained above 5 percent in 6 consecutive quarters.

"We see that Indonesia is one of the countries with the strongest and most persistent growth. Indonesia continues to maintain growth above 5 percent in the last 6 quarters," he said when describing the realization of the latest APBN, quoted on Tuesday, June 27.

According to the Minister of Finance, the trend of economic growth around the world is indeed diverse, but many countries experienced a sharp decline in 2023 due to the turmoil that occurred at the global level.

He said the global economy was still under pressure due to geopolitical escalation, both in Ukraine and in the midst of major countries in the world.

In addition, debt distress or debt difficulties in many countries, especially in development and emerging countries and in developed countries, also hinders economic recovery.

We see that many countries are no longer able to survive the pressures of weakening the world economy and the world economic turmoil. In some countries, the financial sector is experiencing fragility. High inflation and rising interest rates are one of the factors that erode the country's economic growth," he said.

On the other hand, continued the Minister of Finance, the Indonesian economy grew strongly amid the slowdown in the global economy. The performance of the domestic economy is well maintained, as inflation continues to decline and people's purchasing power is maintained strongly. Indonesia's inflation in May 2023 was 4.0 percent year on year (yoy). This figure is better than developed countries, such as Italy, Australia, Germany, and Singapore.

"Inflation is still in a position where the trend is in accordance with what we want to see, namely the decline, especially contributed by volatile food which has decreased quite sharply, namely 3.3 percent and starting to decline in core inflation to 2.7 percent. On the other hand, we hope that we will continue to show a downward trend," he said.

The state treasurer ensures that the government remains consistent in maintaining inflation in 2023 in the range of 3 percent plus minus 1 percent to accelerate the national economic recovery in the midst of the potential for future inflation risks. Meanwhile, the strategy chosen is to strengthen collaboration and policy coordination to maintain macroeconomic stability and encourage the momentum of economic revival.

For information, the Indonesian economy, which remains resilient in the midst of global dynamics, can also be seen from exports and imports that have strengthened again and the trade balance shows a surplus.

In May 2023, exports were recorded at 21.7 billion US dollars or grew 0.96 percent. Meanwhile, imports were recorded at 21.2 billion US dollars, an increase of 14.35 percent yoy. Then, the trade balance in May 2023 was 440 million US dollars. Indeed, this is quite a thin surplus, but in accumulation from January to May, the surplus from the trade balance reached 16.5 billion US dollars. This is quite a positive thing, but we are aware of the trend of weakening exports," closed the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.