Encouraging Economic Growth, Coordinating Minister Airlangga: Synergy Between Ministries Must Be Improved

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, requested that the synergy between ministries and institutions be further enhanced to encourage sustainable economic growth. Not only that, but Airlangga also emphasized that various policies in the trade sector need to be continuously improved so that they can run better.

"I hope that policies in the trade sector can continue to be improved and can continue to run well and synergize with other ministries so that we can encourage sustainable economic growth", said Airlangga, in his official statement, as reported by Antara, Thursday, March 10.

Strong coordination between ministries and institutions, according to Airlangga, is indispensable in responding to various economic challenges in 2022. With strong synergy and coordination, it is also hoped that a quick response can be given by all relevant parties to maintain the momentum of national economic recovery.

The trade sector has strong resilience throughout 2020 and 2021 so the government will also continue to push the trade balance to maintain a consistent surplus as has happened for 21 consecutive months since May 2020. All export components by sector experienced an increase in January 2022, with a total increase of 25,3 percent (YoY).

"In terms of exports in January this year, we see an increase compared to January last year. This situation certainly shows that the composition of our exports has begun to shift from primary commodity-based commodities to industrial-based commodities", said Airlangga.

Meanwhile, in terms of imports, imports of capital goods and raw materials have increased at a higher rate than imports of consumer goods. Commodities of machinery and mechanical equipment and their parts will become the main imported commodities in January 2022. This indicates that the need for production factors continues to increase due to increased production activities in line with changes in mobility that trigger increased demand.

"The government has decided to continue to push for the national economic recovery in 2022 at 5.2 percent and keep a close watch on risks, both global and domestic", said Airlangga.

The National Economic Recovery Program (PEN) is also continuing and its implementation focuses on providing direct support to the community through job creation and social protection. At the same time, the PEN Program will also stimulate the performance of MSMEs and Cooperatives through business incentives and financial support.

In addition, the 2022 KUR ceiling is up 30 percent compared to last year, and the interest is subsidized by 3 percent until the end of the year.

"This is an opportunity to stimulate the economy for small, medium, and micro-businesses, which based on data are mostly engaged in the trade sector", said Airlangga.

Regarding the month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, the government continues to maintain stability in food prices. The government is committed to maintaining volatile food inflation in the range of 3 to 5 percent (YoY).

“Various strategies, optimization, and also digitalization from upstream to downstream are very important. Especially strengthening cooperation between regions", said Airlangga.