The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Not Over, Jokowi Emphasizes The 2022 State Budget Must Be Responsive And Flexible

President Jokowi (photo: documentation of the MPR/DPR/DPD Annual Session)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended. In fact, Jokowi predicts that in 2022, the conditions faced by Indonesia will still be full of uncertainty.

Not only that, Jokowi said that Indonesia must also be prepared to face other global challenges, such as the threat of climate change, increasing geopolitical dynamics, and uneven global economic recovery.

"Until now, the COVID-19 pandemic has not ended. In 2022, we will still be faced with high uncertainty," he said in his introductory Speech on the 2022 State Budget Bill along with the Financial Note, Monday, August 16.

Therefore, said Jokowi, the state revenue and expenditure budget (APBN) in 2022 must be anticipatory, responsive, and flexible in responding to uncertainty.

"However, it still reflects optimism and caution," he said.

Furthermore, Jokowi said that the state budget plays a central role in protecting people's safety and at the same time as a lever for economic recovery. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jokowi said, the APBN has also been used as a counter-cyclical or countercyclical tool.

"Regulating the brake and gas balance, controlling the spread of COVID-19, protecting vulnerable people, and at the same time encouraging the continuity of the business world," he said.

The strategy, said Jokowi, has paid off. The growth engines that were held back at the start of the pandemic are already in motion. In the second quarter of 2021, the Indonesian economy was able to grow 7.07 percent with a controlled inflation rate at 1.52 percent year on year (YoY).

Jokowi hopes that the momentum will continue to be maintained. Therefore, structural reforms must continue to be strengthened.

"The Employment Creation Act, Investment Management Institution, and Risk-Based OSS System is a leap of progress whose impact is not only on increasing productivity, investment and export competitiveness, but also on the creation of quality job opportunities and sustainable economic recovery," he explained.