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Govt's inclusive approach to tackle inequality amid slowdown: Sri Mulyani
The finance minister stressed the government's two-pronged development goal of mitigating the impacts of the global economic slowdown while reducing social inequality in Indonesia.
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (right) attends a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta in this file photo. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A)
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he government will continue to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in its development agenda to mitigate the impact of the global slowdown and to reduce economic inequality, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said during a public lecture.
Addressing students at the campus of the University of Indonesia in Salemba, Jakarta on Monday, the former World Bank Group managing director said the development goals were reflected in the state budget, which focused on infrastructure development as well as rural development and social assistance programs for the poor and others in need.
Sri Mulyani said that the inclusive development approach would help mitigate the impacts of sluggish economic growth, especially on the poor.
“Global and domestic growth have fallen to their lowest levels in the last 10 years,” she said.
The World Bank slightly lowered its global growth forecast for 2019 and 2020 in early January, despite the easing trade tensions between the United States and China.
In the latest edition of its annual Global Economic Prospects, the bank lowered its global forecast by 0.2 percentage point to 2.4 percent for 2019 and 2.5 percent for 2020.
Indonesia recorded growth of 5.02 percent in the third quarter of 2019, the lowest in more than two years amid the slowdown in the global economy.
The government has allocated large funds to finance social assistance programs as part of its inclusive growth policy, including the non-cash assistance program, the national health insurance scheme and educational scholarships for poor families. It has also increased the budget allocation for the village funds program that aims to empower rural economies.
“The state budget for 2020 is similar to the 2019 [budget]. The theme is to maintain the growth momentum and improve economic fundamentals,” Sri Mulyani said.
The government had also laid out a comprehensive program to revive the economy through deregulatory measures to remove barriers to investment, as well as fiscal incentives to help businesses cope with the sluggish growth.
The minister stressed that Indonesia remained ahead of many other countries with its economic growth of about 5 percent. (ydp)
