COVID-19 Goes Crazy, Jokowi Remains Optimistic That Indonesia's Economy Will Grow 7 Percent In The Second Quarter Of 2021

President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is still optimistic that the national economy will grow 7 percent year on year (yoy) in the second quarter of 2021 amid an increase in active cases of COVID-19 in the country. The Indonesian economy in the first quarter of 2021 was recorded to be still negative at 0.74 percent.

Jokowi said this optimism was based on macroeconomic indicators moving to improve. Such as consumer confidence index, retail sales, and manufacturing industry growth.

"We are all still optimistic that in the second quarter of 2021 from the previous minus 0.74 percent in the first quarter of 2021, in the second quarter of 2021, we are still optimistic that it will grow by about 7 percent, God willing," he said at the opening of the VIII Kadin National Conference, Wednesday, June 30.

Furthermore, Jokowi also explained a number of indicators of consumption and retail sales until June 2021. Among these, the retail sales index has increased 12.9 percent. The ongoing development has also triggered the consumption of building materials, such as cement consumption which rose 19.2 percent. Meanwhile, sales of commercial vehicles also shot up to 783 percent.

"These are numbers that I think are fantastic increases. Therefore, as stated by the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Rosan Roeslani), we are all still optimistic," he said.

Then, said Jokowi, the Consumer Confidence Index (IKK) also increased to above the 100 level, namely 104.4 in May 2021, compared to February 2021 which was 85. According to him, this shows that public expectations and demand for consumption are indicated to recover.

Meanwhile, in other indicators, there was a drastic increase in manufacturing industry activity, as seen from the Purcashing Manager Index (PMI) which reached 55.3, based on calculations in May 2021.

Furthermore, Jokowi said the PMI rate was actually much higher than Indonesia's achievement in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, which was 51.

"It's very high (PMI). This means that there is optimism there. The supply side is also the same, production is growing, exports are growing," he said.