OECD Cuts Indonesia's Economic Growth, Airlangga Focuses On Maintaining People's Purchasing Power

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto (Photo: dock. VOI)

JAKARTA - The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut Indonesia's economic growth projection by 2025 to 4.7 percent, from 4.9 percent previously.

Responding to this, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto did not deny that there is currently an economic slowdown. However, he emphasized that this slowdown did not only occur in Indonesia, but was almost globally evenly distributed.

"Indeed, the world's economic growth is now almost entirely cut," he said at a press conference on the development of Indonesia's readiness towards OECD membership, quoted Thursday, June 5.

Airlangga also highlighted the decline in global trade activity, which he said was also recognized by the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who explained that the decline was partly due to the tariff policy implemented by the United States against a number of trading partner countries.

"So it is predicted that some countries' growth will be cut from 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent," he said.

To maintain the momentum of domestic economic growth, he said that the government had launched five stimulus packages valid during June and July.

Airlangga hopes that this stimulus can maintain people's purchasing power and support labor-intensive industries that are affected, including the export sector to the United States.

"We also monitor from various countries in OECD, most of which also make packages so that they can maintain people's purchasing power in the current situation," he explained.