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SOEs need more capital expenditure to help boost economy: Minister
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Vice President Jusuf Kalla (right) talks to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno before a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on June 13. (Antara/Rosa Panggabean)
S
tate-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno has called for a larger chunk of capital expenditure to be allocated to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the revised draft of the 2017 state budget, arguing that such a measure would help boost economic development in Indonesia.
“The improvement of capital expenditure is one of many steps for boosting our economic development. Improving does not only mean to increase the value but also to maximize its uses,” she told reporters on Friday in Jakarta.
This year, SOEs received Rp 472 trillion (US$35.23 billion) in capital expenditure (capex), Rini added. However, the SOEs are unlikely to get more capex.
“I talked to Bu Menkeu [Finance Minister Sri Mulyani] the other day and she told me ‘Bu Rini, you still have not fully achieved your capex spending target. It’s not high enough’,” said Rini in her speech during the event.
She insisted that the SOEs' dominant role in the economy was not a problem, despite criticism from private companies over SOEs leaving them very little room to do business.
“We should be proud of that because it means that we have been successful in doing our functions. SOEs should always have more capability than private [companies]. SOEs keep us from losing more and more of our country’s assets,” she claimed. (dea/ags)
