Sri Mulyani Happy That Indonesia's GDP Is Higher Than Before The Pandemic: Malaysia, Singapore Can't Afford It

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

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, said that the government's economic recovery efforts after the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic had now paid off. According to the Minister of Finance, this can be seen from the gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the second quarter of 2021.

In her records, Indonesia's real GDP until the first half of this year has reached IDR 2,773 trillion. This figure is higher than the same period in 2019 which amounted to IDR 2,735 trillion. This means continued the Minister of Finance, this achievement is even higher than before the crisis.

“Is a contraction an economy guaranteed to rebound? Apparently not. We see the countries around us, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore, even with their various efforts, their GDP in the second quarter of this year has not been able to pass the pre-covid level condition", she said in a press statement as quoted on Wednesday, September 1, 2021.

The Minister of Finance added that recovery steps can be achieved well if the handling of COVID-19 is carried out with discipline. In addition, she also revealed that the policies carried out by the government would be a good provision to continue to make improvements and refinement of future policies.

"Indonesia's economy in the first semester has entered the positive trend zone, has passed a period of recession. But remember, this is still largely determined by our ability to control COVID-19. As can be seen, the emergence of new variants can cause the recovery momentum to be disrupted", she said.

As is known, the COVID-19 pandemic has massively affected the economy in almost all sectors.

Last year the whole world faced an economic downturn and caused a very deep contraction as almost all countries imposed strict mobility restrictions. In fact, many countries have implemented lockdowns which have consequences for the economy which immediately declines very sharply.

“Last year, the world experienced a contraction of minus 3.2 percent in terms of economic growth. For this reason, the government will continue to provide various stimulus measures and countercyclical policies which are expected to reduce uncertainty so that the momentum of economic recovery can be maintained", closed the Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani.