Aiming high through economic turbulence

Winarno Zain
Commissioner in a publicly listed oil and gas service company

PREMIUM

Jakarta / Wed, August 21, 2019 / 11:47 am

Growth in consumer spending remained stagnant at 5 percent. Low inflation, Idul Fitri celebrations, general election spending, higher remuneration for government officials and higher social spending, all failed to boost consumer spending. (Antara Photo/Muhammad Adimaja))

As President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo presented his 2020 state budget to the House of Representatives on Aug. 16, the turbulence in the global economy intensified. Stock prices in major world markets including in Indonesia have been seesawing for months, reflecting the anxiety of investors around the globe at the continuing uncertainty in the world economy. Industrial production in China has hit its lowest level in seven years. The German economy, the powerhouse of the European Union, is on the brink of
recession. The ongoing trade war between the United States and China is expanding from slapping tariffs on each other’s imports disrupting the supply chains of high-tech products to a currency war. The uncertainty regarding the final shape of Brexit still haunts investors in the EU and Britain, Under these circumstances, investors around the world are n...