Indonesia will be economically stable during election year: Hatta
Indonesia will be economically stable during election year: Hatta
Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa has said Indonesia will be economically stable in this election year, predicting that the economy will grow by around 5.76 percent.
“The successul implementation of the 2004 and 2009 elections shows that the Indonesian people are mature enough to exercise their political rights,” Hatta said at an Indonesia Investor Forum 3 seminar in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara news agency.
He said Indonesia’s economic growth in 2014 would be supported by domestic and external conditions, which were still relatively good, despite existing risks from global uncertainties.
The election year, Hatta said, would promote the real sector and push growth in the economy as there would be greater spending at the domestic level.
“Our purchasing power and middle class are growing. These have become the main determinants of our growth,” he said.
The minister added, however, that the fluctuating global economy would have a negative impact on Indonesia’s economy. However, he said, the government had devised several policies to reduce the impact of global fluctuations by, among other things, increasing quality and budget absorption in the first and second quarters of 2014 and continuing to maintain the stability of staple food prices to control inflation and reduce poverty.
“Other measures include increasing investment competitiveness through improvements to infrastructure and connectivity with a target to reduce logistic costs from 14.08 to 10 percent in 2015,” Hatta said.
Other of the government’s policies include increasing energy efficiency by halting exports of primary energy materials and industry downstreaming by consistently banning raw ore exports through 2016.