Sri Mulyani Denies That People's Purchasing Power Is Weakening

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati opened her voice regarding the alleged weakening of people's purchasing power.

He said, there are many studies that show the most frequent indicators, such as consumer confidence index or consumer confidence index, but that's probably the basis in urban areas.

"Whether their consumer confidence index, consumer confidence, or retail index, or their purchasing index, their purchase, we see that it is still at a stable and high level. This means that there is no sharp correction and suddenly decreases sharply," Sri Mulyani told reporters, Friday, October 4.

According to him, community groups recorded or recorded through the consumer confidence index (IKK), including in terms of retail, still show a fairly constant or stable activity.

Sri Mulyani explained, if you look at the perception of the purchasing power of the middle class, then the trend of these groups must be recorded and currently, there are some middle classes that have dropped to vulnerable groups.

However, there is a poor group that has advanced to class and is included in the group that has become a middle class.

"So in this case, we see that there are two indicators, the poor go up, but the middle class goes down. The decline in the middle class is usually due to inflation. With high inflation, the poverty line rises, they suddenly fall down," he said.

Furthermore, the state treasurer added that the government has heard the current state of layoffs and there have been layoffs in one place, on the other hand there is job creation.

Based on statistical data, more than 11 million in the last 3 years, the new workforce or new jobs is open.

Sri Mulyani emphasized that all aspects must be assessed as a whole.

He then gave an example that currently there are many foreign investments in the downstream sector, the possibility of working in this area and this condition can be different in the intense labor industry such as footwear, textiles, garment, which used to be an area where job opportunities were created.

"Another thing is also the emergence of new job opportunities because of the digital sector. Like Gojek and others, it appears as a phenomenonal reason. So we have to see the Indonesian economy changing, because there are various factors," he said.

Sri Mulyani said that regardless of this, either because of technology or changes in economic structure, the most vulnerable group still has to get attention.

"We will continue to pay attention to people who are most vulnerable to getting support, whether it is in the form of social assistance or training, and on the other hand improving the investment climate so that new jobs appear," he said.