Erick Thohir Wants The World Economy To Normalize By 2022

Capture the screen of BUMN Minister Erick Thohir during a virtual discussion, Thursday 18 June. (Mery Handayani / VOI)

JAKARTA - Pagebluk COVID-19 which began at the beginning of the year continues to suppress the global and national economy. The discovery of a vaccine against this virus has led to predictions from various parties. One of them, world entrepreneurs who believe that the economy will only recover in 2022.

Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Erick Thohir said, based on a survey of 500 world entrepreneurs he read, it was stated that the world economy would return to normal in the first quarter of 2022. However, he hoped that this prediction would miss or not happen.

"52 percent predict like that. Even though 40 percent say it is faster. Hopefully the 52 percent predictions are wrong. I am still optimistic that even though in the future like this, we will be healthier and dividends will return to normal," he said, in a virtual discussion entitled ' BUMN Fighting in the Middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic ', Thursday, June 18.

If the survey results are correct, said Erick, it means that it will take two years for the recovery of BUMN businesses. Moreover, it is known that 90 percent of state-owned companies are affected by COVID-19 and only 10 percent are not.

"It means that the recovery that we are doing at the Ministry of BUMN and BUMN (companies) will take two years to start returning to normal," he said.

Support Jokowi's Decision

Erick considered that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) 's decision not to lock down or quarantine the current area was the right choice, again this is when referring to the survey results.

"The President's decision not to lockdown was the right decision because health and the economy are currently stuck together, so they cannot be separated," he explained.

The crisis that occurred due to the outbreak of COVID-19, said Erick, was very different from the crisis that Indonesia had previously experienced. Because, this virus is very complex. Because it attacks everything from health, social, to economy simultaneously.

"Therefore, the community and us in BUMN must adapt to a new life. It cannot be like the old days," he said.

Erick revealed that 75 percent of CEOs of large companies in the world said COVID-19 had forced people to go digital. By adapting to current conditions, the economy is expected to improve soon, although not completely.

"We will continue to try to run the economy. If possible, 50 percent is good, thank God," he explained.