CSIS Appreciates Airlangga's Business In Bringing Indonesia Out Of Crisis

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto for his performance received appreciation from CSIS. (photo: screenshot)

JAKARTA -- Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto received praise and appreciation from many parties for his extraordinary performance in bringing Indonesia out of recession. The chairman of the Covid-19 Handling Committee and National Economic Recovery (KPCPEN) is also considered to have recorded many positive results.

Various policies issued by Airlangga Hartarto succeeded in securing the economic aspect. This is what makes Indonesia out of the economic recession. Many people also think that the improvement in the national economy is due to the improvement in health.

"Airlangga Hartarto has succeeded in reducing the spread of Covid-19 as well as successfully bringing Indonesia out of recession," said Head of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Economic Department Yose Rizal Damuri.

It is widely reported that, based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in the second quarter of 2021 economic growth reached 7.07 percent. That figure is the highest in the last 17 years or since 2004.

Handling the pandemic in Indonesia not only prioritizes the health sector, but also the economy. In both aspects, Airlangga Hartarto managed to record positive results.

“Government programs are helping in several sectors. Health conditions that are under control also affect it," said Yose Rizal Damuri.

Yose emphasized that the improvement in the national economy was mainly due to improved health. As a result, he continued, spending money is no longer a wait-and-see attitude, so investors will not hesitate to invest their capital.

Yose's assessment is in line with Airlangga's strategy. Using the helicopter view pattern, the chairman of the Golkar Party does not only focus on handling the pandemic from an economic or health perspective.

"We see this situation from a helicopter view, not partially. If only viewed from the health side, the policy seems less assertive. From an economic perspective, the policies seem too restrictive. This must be done carefully and calculated carefully, because the government must consider these various aspects,” said Yose.

He continued, in order to keep people's purchasing power high, the government implemented various social assistance and incentive schemes. According to Yose, the program has had a positive impact. Social assistance can encourage consumption.

“The government program is certainly useful to keep people's lives from falling too deep. So that people can live in a subsystem while waiting for improvements,” he said.

Previously, Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) researcher Saidiman Ahmad also appreciated Airlangga's role in national economic growth.

He assessed that economic growth could reinforce the government's efforts to not only focus on handling the pandemic in one sector.

"Economic growth of 7.07 percent is an extraordinary achievement in the process of national economic recovery," he said.

He said the economy that experienced positive growth would also have an impact on the health sector as well as continuing to improve. According to him, the government is quite successful in dealing with the pandemic.

"Although the daily positive confirmation cases are still relatively large, they can be contained enough so that they do not explode like in India," said Saidiman Ahmad.