Two Keys For A Better Economy In The Third Quarter Observer's Version

Head of Center of Macroeconomics and Finance Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) M. Rizal Taufikurahman/ Antara

JAKARTA - Head of the Center of Macroeconomics and Finance Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) M. Rizal Taufikurahman, revealed two keys that have the potential to encourage better economic growth in the third quarter of 2021.

These two keys can be pursued considering that the economy in the second quarter of 2021 is predicted to grow only around 1 percent to 2 percent or much smaller than the government's target of 7 percent to 8 percent.

“The third quarter is greatly influenced by the second quarter. It seems that in the third quarter, we hope that there will be an improvement in economic performance," he said during an online discussion in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Sunday, July 4.

Rizal stated that to create a better realization of economic growth in the third quarter, the government needs to encourage the management of industrial policies by utilizing human resources (HR).

According to him, this can also be an added value for Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is basically influenced by manufacturing and industry.

"Management of industrial policies by utilizing human resources whose production is still growing should be boosted," he said.

Moreover, from the revenue structure, the main type of tax that contributes the most is trade, which reaches 5.02 percent based on the realization of tax revenue as of May 2021.

Therefore, Rizal said that the encouragement of the trade sector would be able to provide more optimal reinforcement, especially in tax revenues.

"I see that the most promising prospect is that in the midst of this pandemic, how to encourage trade, which is based on our resources, is still competitive in the global market," he said.

The second key is better health management compared to the previous quarters because it will be able to encourage economic growth in the third quarter of 2021.

He said the government's decision to increase the budget in the health sector was a natural step if Indonesia wanted a faster economic recovery.

"If it is maintained, it will probably improve, so the third quarter will be better if health management is better," he said.

For information, the government increased the budget for health care to Rp185.98 trillion from Rp172.84 trillion as a form of state budget support for emergency PPKM.