JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the COVID-19 pandemic has put pressure on all Indonesian people. In such circumstances, people must rack their brains to make ends meet. The government is also doing the same thing, looking for ways to prevent people from entering poverty.
He likens managing state finances during the COVID-19 pandemic like a household. According to him, a housewife must be smart in understanding the situation and quickly make the right decisions under any circumstances.
Furthermore, he gave an example, at home suddenly a family member was sick, maybe a crash, had dengue fever and had to be hospitalized, or the head of his family was laid off. Meanwhile, housewives must be able to fund their entire family so that each family member is able to live a life.
"The mother has to spin her mind about how to fund all her sick families, who still have to work, and who must be able to eat every day. That mother needs to be in debt, so I am in debt. And I am scolded by all Indonesians owing this," he said, in virtual video, Monday, January 4.
In fact, said Sri, the government made loans or sought additional financing in the midst of this crisis to keep the State Budget (APBN) healthy. Because, currently state spending is increasing but state revenue is falling due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Sri, the APBN is also under pressure due to this COVID-19. This is because, state revenue has decreased, taxes have fallen by 20 percent.
"Taxes are down and revenues are down, we must increase spending," he explained.
Sri said economic activity had decreased sharply due to limited activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The impact of the epidemic is all affected sectors.
"That's why the recovery design framework is quite complex for the economy," he said.
Senior economist Rizal Ramli also frequently criticized Sri Mulyani. Rizal even dubbed Sri Mulyan as the 'debt queen' through his Twitter social media account.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
