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Govt prepares for El Niño’s economic impact
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Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan speaks at the Mandiri Investment Forum event on Feb. 9, 2022. (Bank Mandiri/Bank Mandiri)
T
he government is making preparations to counter the human and economic costs of this year’s El Niño weather phenomenon, which will likely bring more extensive dry spells to the country and affect the prices and availability of key commodities.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced recently that the La Niña phenomena of the past three years had given way to El Niño this year, bringing higher temperatures and drier weather.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Wednesday that some parts of the country had already experienced higher-than-normal temperatures.
He added that according to weather models the government had received, El Niño would reach its peak in August, although its severity remained uncertain.
The senior minister noted that in 2015, El Niño had caused widespread drought in Indonesia, as well as land and forest fires, which had been accompanied by lower agricultural and mining production.
“Not to mention the large impact [of El Niño] on inflation in Indonesia, as inflation of foodstuffs contributes a lot to inflation as a whole,” Luhut wrote on his Instagram account on Wednesday.
“We will be prepared for any extreme conditions. I have asked all relevant ministries and agencies, as well as regional administrations, to start preparing all the steps needed to ensure that our bad experiences eight years ago will not be repeated,” he added.
