President Jokowi Identifies 15 Regions With Inflation Above The National

President Joko Widodo spoke with Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo/ANTARA PHOTO/Hafidz Mubarak A

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo said there were 15 provinces and regencies/cities whose rates were above the national level, although they were already below 5 percent.

The fifteen provinces are Maluku, East Java, West Kalimantan, Special Region of Yogyakarta, West Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, North Maluku, South Kalimantan, Merauke, Manokwari, Mimika, Surabaya, Pontianak, Ambon and Banjarmasin.

"This is what needs attention even though I still express my gratitude because (the inflation rate) is already below 5 percent," said Jokowi at the 2023 National Inflation Control Coordination Meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Thursday, August 31.

To control inflation levels, the President asked members of the inflation control team and local governments to be diligent in conducting checks in the field, especially by going down directly to check the prices of basic necessities in the market.

"That's what we hope that our inflation will be well controlled and slowly decline. I hope that our inflation will not rise again because it will be very burdensome for the community," said Jokowi.

Efforts to control inflation, according to him, need to be tightened to be aware of the impact of extreme drought due to El Nino which is predicted to continue until early next year as well as restrictions on food exports imposed by a number of countries.

"Once again, I ask the regents and governors who own rice fields to pay attention to their productivity so that they can increase, because the position of all countries is braking exports, so we can no longer buy rice or wheat from other countries that stop exports," said Jokowi.

Previously, President Jokowi appreciated that Indonesia's inflation in July 2023 was controlled at 3.08 percent and was recorded to be lower than US inflation.

The President emphasized the importance of controlling inflation in addition to increasing the country's economic growth.

According to the President, controlling inflation in Indonesia is a combination not only of the exchange rate, interest rate, price and availability of goods, but also through monetary and fiscal policies taken by the government.