In Front Of Investors, Sri Mulyani Explains Three Priorities Of Economic Recovery Through Strengthening Human Resources

JAKARTA – The Minister of Finance ensures that the government is committed to supporting the development sector and economic recovery through the design of a flexible and effective State Budget (APBN) that is both flexible and effective.

"In the 2022 State Budget, the government supports the development sector by improving the quality of human resources, supporting economic recovery, and structural reforms", she said while attending the online Mandiri Investment Forum (MIF) 2022, Wednesday, February 9.

According to the Minister of Finance, the aspect of Human Resources (HR) is the main key to being able to get out of the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The priority areas for recovery are spending on very important human resources, namely health, education, and social protection. The three most important in improving the quality of human resources in Indonesia", she said.

The Minister of Finance explained that the total budget in each post was quite large, namely the education of IDR 542.8 trillion, health of IDR 255.4 trillion, and social protection of IDR 431.5 trillion.

She said the education sector budget was used to improve teacher skills and professionalism, accelerate educational facilities, strengthen vocational education, and increase synergy between the central, regional, and related ministries.

Meanwhile, the budget for the health sector is used for handling the pandemic, increasing the effectiveness of health insurance, strengthening national health system reform, and handling stunting. Then for the social protection sector, the budget is used to protect the most vulnerable people.

"This will be the theme of the 2022 fiscal policy in the future, the quality of human resources is very important not only for recovery but also the competitiveness and productivity of the Indonesian economy and future development", she stressed.

The next priority is in the infrastructure sector. The budget for this sector in 2022 will reach IDR 365.8 trillion, which will focus on both physical and digital development.

"Because so far the acceleration of transformation towards digital technology has really happened and it requires very strong support for the quality of digital infrastructure. So we are building and placing a higher budget allocation so that we can be digitally connected throughout Indonesia", she explained.

For information, the 2022 Mandiri Investment Forum is an annual event that brings together domestic and foreign investors with other strategic stakeholders, such as the central and regional governments.

Bank Mandiri itself claims that this event can reach up to 20,000 capital owners, including 700 foreign investors with an estimated asset under management of up to US$4 trillion. Because of this strategic position, President Joko Widodo took the time to deliver the opening speech of MIF 2022 through virtual channels as part of increasing the attractiveness of investing in Indonesia.