Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati admitted that the economic growth rate of 5.01% in the first quarter of 2022 indicates that Indonesia's economic situation has not fully recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, although it has started to improve. The reason is, even though the number has decreased compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate in Indonesia is still at 5.8%, higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic which was 4.9%. "So if you say that you have not fully recovered, that's correct, but that we have started to improve is also correct because the entire economic recovery process is indeed running with programs carried out by the government," Sri Mulyani said at the Vice President's Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (11/5). Sri Mulyani explained that Indonesia's economic growth was supported by investment consumption of 4.1% which according to her was not enough to create jobs.
"The labor force increased by 4.2 million, partly absorbed by the new job opportunities created, we must be able to create more job opportunities," said Sri Mulyani. In addition, he said, economic growth was also supported by household consumption in Indonesia, which grew 4.34% compared to the previous year. According to Sri Mulyani, this is the result of government policies in handling the Covid-19 pandemic so that people are now more free to move. "If the number of Covid-19 decreases, we can see people starting to carry out activities, and that means like yesterday 84 million people going home will definitely cause economic activities," said Sri Mulyani. Therefore, he emphasized, the sloping Covid-19 case must be kept low so that the economic recovery can continue. However, he said that there is a new challenge that must be faced, namely inflation that occurs worldwide.
Sri Mulyani said this was due to the soaring demand for commodities following the economic recovery in developed countries which was not followed by the availability of supplies and the war in Ukraine which hampered the supply of energy and food. "(Inflation in) Indonesia is still at 3.5% yesterday, the BPS said. However, we are wary of several items, especially food items that are related to stunting, we must be aware of," said Sri Mulyani. He added that high inflation will also encourage monetary policy by raising interest rates which will put the brakes on economic recovery. "So my point was, we still have homework that we have to complete and new challenges emerge," he said. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported that the Indonesian economy in the first quarter of 2022 grew by 5.01% on an annual basis or year on year (year on year / yoy). This growth above 5% continued growth in the fourth quarter of 2021 which was 5.02%. Head of BPS Margo Yuwono said the realization was in line with the recovery in community mobility, which then had a positive effect on production, consumption and investment activities. Apart from the recovery in community activity, Indonesia's high economic growth in the first quarter of this year was due to the low economic growth in the first quarter of last year or the low base effect.
Source: https://nasional.kontan.co.id/news/sri-mulyani-sebut-ekonomi-indonesia-sudah-mulai-membaik?page=2
