The Suffering of Developed Countries Is Not Over Yet, Indonesia Is Lucky to Have a Strong Economy

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA – Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the economic slowdown in developed countries, including China, has had serious implications for global recovery efforts and also energy demand.

According to her, this uncertainty makes it difficult to predict how oil and gas prices will develop in the future.

“On a global scale, we see that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in August 2023 is in the contraction zone. "This shows that the economy is still fragile and vulnerable," she said in Bali while speaking at the 4th International Convention On Indonesian Oil and Gas (ICIOG) forum, Wednesday, September 20.

According to the Minister of Finance, this is supported by IMF predictions which state that the projected world economy in 2023 will slow down with growth of only 3 percent or lower than last year with an actual 3.2 percent.

“On the other hand, global inflation is still high. "With the current oil prices, inflationary pressure is expected to continue, especially in developed countries," she said.

Specifically in the European region, the Minister of Finance said that high inflation figures were responded to by aggressively raising benchmark interest rates.

"We think this will have implications (pressure) on their economic performance," she said.

On that occasion, the Minister of Finance confirmed that Indonesia's economic conditions tend to have better resilience compared to developed countries.

"In this global context, Indonesia's current economic situation is resilient and relatively strong. "Economic growth of 5.2 percent in the second quarter of 2023 was supported by strong domestic demand at a time when foreign demand or exports were weakening," she stressed.

"The reopening of economic activities after the impact of the pandemic has given us a positive impact, especially in sectors that were under deep pressure such as tourism, transportation and restaurants. "Here, the participants can see that in Bali two or three years ago many hotels were empty but now they are full again," continued Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.