Jokowi Angry: People's Money For Shopping For Imported Products, Are We Not Stupid!

President Jokowi. (Screenshot of the Presidential Secretariat YouTube)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo is angry that ministries, institutions, and local governments are still prioritizing spending on imported products using the State Budget (APBN) and Regional Revenue Budget (APBD).

Jokowi said the central and regional governments should maximize spending on domestic products from the APBN which currently amounts to IDR 2,714 trillion and the APBD of IDR 1.197 trillion.

"This is people's money, money collected from taxes, both VAT, PPh, individual PPh Agency, employee PPh, from exports, from PNPB, is collected in a way that is not easy", said Jokowi at the Opening of the 2022 National Coordination Meeting for Government Internal Control, Tuesday 14 June, which was broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube account.

"Then the shopping, shopping for imported products. We are very stupid", he continued.

Jokowi said that all public money collected from taxes and then spent on imported products had a positive impact on other countries. The added value will be pocketed by other countries, including the opportunity to open employment opportunities, not in Indonesia.

"Sorry we are smart, but if we do it like that, we are very stupid! I have to say it as it is", he said.

Still furious with what he found, Jokowi requested that the Government Internal Supervisory Apparatus (APIP) supervise all central and regional agencies using domestic products.

He emphasized that APIP could impose sanctions if ministries, institutions, regional governments, state-owned enterprises, and regional-owned enterprises (BUMD) did not comply with this order.

"I ask APIP, BPKP, to seriously oversee this program and it must be successful. Shopping for domestic products must be successful", he said.