TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Govt must work harder to reach 2016 growth target: Bappenas
Change Size
National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Bambang Brodjonegoro (second left) joins a panel of speakers during a roundtable discussion on the 2016 economic outlook in Jakarta on Aug. 9. (thejakartapost.com/Ayomi Amindoni)
T
he National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) has warned that the government must work harder to grow the economy by 5.36 percent in the second semester of the year, more than in the first semester, to meet the overall 2016 target of 5.2 percent.
"In the first semester, the economy expanded 5.04 percent. It will take a lot of hard work to achieve 5.36 percent growth in the next semester to reach the 5.2 percent [target]," Bappenas head Bambang Brodjonegoro told reporters after a roundtable discussion on the 2016 economic outlook in Jakarta on Tuesday.
To reach the relatively high growth target in the second semester, the government must boost investment amid sluggish exports. "We must improve the investment climate and promote more, but this will take time as the mentality of the institutions must be changed," he added.
Though countries compete for foreign direct investment (FDI) on the global front, FDI as one of the main drivers of economic growth is limited, according to Bambang. "So, in the short term it is difficult to expect high FDI."
The government, Bambang added, also had to optimize its capital spending and must be fully supported by the private sector. Meanwhile, regional administrations must speed up their budget absorption as Rp 214 trillion had been left idle in banks. (ags)
