Jokowi: 553 Million People Threatened By Extreme Poverty And 345 Million Lives Lack Of Food

President Joko Widodo attends the Joint Session of the DPR RI and DPD RI at the Nusantara Building, Parliament Complex, Tuesday, August 16 (Photo via Twitter Setkab)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo stated that the whole world is facing a test of the economy. Meanwhile, the health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet.

One of the causes besides the pandemic, said Jokowi, is the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. This was conveyed by Jokowi in the state speech of the 77th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia at the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) building, Senayan.

"The health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet fully recovered. The world economy has not fully recovered. Suddenly a war broke out in Ukraine so that the food crisis, energy crisis, and financial crisis are unavoidable", said Jokowi, Tuesday, August 16.

Jokowi said 107 countries are currently being affected by the crisis. Some of them are estimated to go bankrupt. In fact, Jokowi said half a billion people in the world are threatened with extreme poverty.

"It is estimated that 553 million people are threatened with extreme poverty, and 345 million people are threatened with food shortages and starvation", said Jokowi.

Indonesia also faces this difficult test. However, in the midst of formidable challenges, Jokowi said he was grateful that Indonesia was one of the countries that were able to face the global crisis.

Jokowi claimed that Indonesia was one of the countries that had succeeded in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, including the top five countries with the most vaccinations in the world, with 432 million doses of vaccine injected.

He continued, Inflation was also successfully controlled in the range of 4.9 percent.

"This figure is far below the ASEAN average inflation which is around 7 percent. Far below the inflation of developed countries which is around 9 percent", he added.

Meanwhile, until the middle of 2022, the State Budget (APBN) also has a surplus of IDR 106 trillion. Therefore, said Jokowi, the government can provide subsidies for fuel, LPG, and electricity, amounting to IDR 502 trillion in 2022, so that the price of fuel in the community does not soar.

Furthermore, Jokowi said that the Indonesian economy managed to grow positively at 5.44 percent in the second quarter of 2022. The trade balance was also in surplus for 27 consecutive months, and in the first half of 2022, the surplus was around IDR 364 trillion.

"We should be grateful for this achievement. Indonesia's economic fundamentals remain very good in the midst of a turbulent world economy. On the one hand, we must remain vigilant and remain cautious. But on the other hand, we must continue with the nation's big agendas. to achieve Advanced Indonesia", he added.