Meet with US Investors, Purbaya Clarifies Fiscal Issues

Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa (Photo: dok. Antara)

JAKARTA - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa met with a number of global investors in New York, United States, on Monday, April 13. This meeting was used to explain the fundamental macroeconomic conditions of Indonesia as well as the direction of fiscal policy in the future.

"Basically we explain the economic conditions and our fiscal strategy going forward. So they are convinced that our fiscal movement or policy is on the right track," he said in a written statement, Tuesday, April 14.

At the meeting, a number of US investors were also present, including HSBC Global Asset Management, Lazard Asset Management, BlackRock, Lord Abbett, and TD Asset Management.

According to Purbaya, several investors have shown interest in investing in Indonesia, so the government provided additional explanations to answer various doubts they have regarding the domestic economic conditions.

"They intend to invest in Indonesia. So some explanations were given to them to ensure that their doubts about Indonesia could be cleared," he said.

He added that investors basically did not doubt Indonesia's macroeconomic foundation. However, they want to ensure that negative issues circulating, especially related to fiscal conditions, are not in line with reality.

"So they (investors) are not hesitant, they just hear that there is noise that our finances are in trouble, they (want) to make sure that it is not true. We explain what our fundamental policies are like and because they are smart people, they can accept wholeheartedly what we explain is in line with economic theories," said Purbaya.

Furthermore, Purbaya revealed that investors also provided input so that the government could improve communication with international investors.

"Regarding fiscal policy, they are confident that the policy direction is correct, they assume that some international rating agencies are too quick to change the rating to Indonesia, yes, such as the provision of negative outlooks, where the change is made when the latest economic data are not too complete," he said.

Answering questions about strategies to attract investment, Purbaya emphasized that the key is to maintain economic growth in accordance with the target in the State Budget.

"We will continue to ensure that the economy grows in accordance with the target we mentioned. If Indonesia can grow 5.5 percent in the first quarter and in the second quarter it remains strong, this will immediately make them more confident to increase their investment in Indonesia. So we focus on ensuring that our policies are correct, our implementation is in accordance with the design we made," he concluded.