Sri Mulyani: Indonesia Including Little Countries Whose Economy Has Recovered Since 2021

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani stated that Indonesia is among the few countries whose economic level has recovered after being hit by a pandemic crisis. According to her, the turning point occurred last year.

"The acceleration of Indonesia's economic recovery has made Indonesia one of the countries whose economic level has returned to pre-pandemic levels since 2021.

Several developed and developing countries such as Japan, Italy, Thailand, and Mexico, until the first semester of 2022, the economy has not returned to pre-pandemic levels," he said at the DPR Plenary Session, Thursday, September 29.

The Minister of Finance explained, with a fast and strong economic recovery, Indonesia is still able to maintain the state budget carefully.

"We are one of the countries that has succeeded in maintaining the state budget deficit to be relatively low and decline quickly," he said.

Furthermore, the Minister of Finance revealed that the accumulation of the state budget deficit during the 2020-2021 pandemic was only 10.7 percent of GDP.

That figure is much lower than various other countries, such as the United States, India, and the UK, which have an accumulated deficit of more than 20 percent of GDP in two years of the pandemic.

"This means that Indonesia is able to use the APBN effectively and efficiently and carefully and measured as a policy instrument in overcoming the impact of the pandemic and restoring the economy," he stressed.

However, the state treasurer views the world as currently faced with the emergence of new risks that are increasingly complex and complicated. Geopolitical tensions between countries have led to war and supply chain disruption which has caused commodity prices to soar and inflational turmoil.

"In dealing with the pandemic and facing various challenges to the domestic and global economy, the state budget has carried out its function as a fiscal policy tools that are used appropriately and carefully," he said.

The state budget moves quickly in providing responses to improve health services and provide protection to the community. Indonesia is not only able to maintain the momentum of economic growth during the pandemic, but is also able to maintain health and fiscal sustainability as the foundation for the economy in 2023," said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.