Jakarta, – Indonesia’s economic growth continues to experience positive developments amidst global uncertainty. Economic growth continues to record sustainable growth and must also be balanced with increasing public welfare.
These various efforts are carried out by, among others, opening more job opportunities, improving the skills and excellence of Indonesian human resources (HR), reducing poverty levels, increasing empowerment and increasing access to capital for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and establishing policies that support downstreaming and increase investment attractiveness.
According to the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia economic researcher Yusuf R Manilet, during President Joko Widodo’s leadership period, there were several achievements that need to be appreciated, including the trend of the number of poor people and unemployment experiencing a relative decline.
“Jokowi is able to reduce poverty and unemployment, it is worthy of appreciation,” he said.
“Efforts to improve the welfare of society, especially the lower middle class, also need to be balanced with efforts to create jobs that are in accordance with the characteristics of society or the current workforce,” he explained.
Meanwhile, in an effort to strengthen building a sustainable economy, President Jokowi will issue regulations related to the digital economy. This was conveyed by the Director of Digital Economy of the Directorate General of Aptika, Bonifasius W Pujianto.
“Hopefully, a Presidential Decree regarding the digital economy will be issued soon,” said Bonifasius in a statement on Friday (6/9/2024).
He explained about the policy, it cannot be done sectorally. It needs a joint orchestration to build a digital economy in Indonesia.
He further stated that the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs is the conductor by compiling a white paper on digital economic development for the next five years until 2030.
To note, in the 10-year journey of Joko Widodo’s government, economic growth remains positive, indicators of public welfare have increased. Another indicator is shown by the poverty rate dropping sharply to 9.03 percent in 2024. The extreme poverty rate also dropped significantly to 0.83 percent in 2024. In the same year, the unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent.
Indonesia’s economy is able to always be maintained at around 5 percent, even higher than the global growth average of 3.4 percent. Employment also increased by 21.3 million in the period 2015-2024.
To improve public welfare, the government continues to maintain inflation within the target, through coordination from the center to the regions and through the National Movement to Control Food Inflation (GNPIP). Indonesia’s inflation can be controlled in the range of 2-3 percent when many countries experience extraordinary increases, some even reaching more than 200 percent.
When shocks occur, the government is ready and optimizes the use of the State Budget (APBN) to reduce shocks from various global ripple effects, as shown during the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions that have occurred in the world.