VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Central Statistics Agency noted that Indonesia's economic growth in the third quarter of 2020 contracted by minus 3.49 percent. Even though it is still contracting, this achievement is better than the position in the second quarter of 2020 which was recorded at minus 5.32 percent.

Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated on Thursday (6/11) that the achievement of economic growth in the third quarter of 2020 was quite good compared to the previous position. This shows that currently, there is a process of economic recovery and a reversal in the direction of national economic activity towards a positive direction. The improvement in economic growth is driven by fiscal stimulus or the role of the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget instrument, mainly in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and the National Economic Recovery program

In the third quarter of 2020, the absorption of state spending experienced an increase in acceleration. Until the end of September, the national economy grew 15.5 percent. The absorption of the budget was supported by the realization of social assistance and support for the business world and small and micro enterprises. Based on the Central Statistics Agency data, during this period, the government consumption grew 9.76 percent from the previous period.

What is happening now can certainly be used to improve growth in the fourth quarter. But keep in mind, this will be largely determined by current and future conditions and policies. Thereby, the government must maintain this positive trend and not be careless. Because it is possible that Indonesia will be trapped in a prolonged recession as experienced by many other countries during the pandemic. An acute recession would increase the unemployment rate which until last August alone was recorded at 9.77 million. An increase of 2.67 million compared to the same period in 2019.

It is hoped that the government will be able to put a brake on the increase in unemployment by encouraging economic growth from quarter to quarter. All components of growth both in terms of expenditure and production must move up.

The government has said that it will continue to accelerate the Covid-19 handling program and the absorption of the National Economic Recovery budget, which amounts to Rp 695 trillion. However, until early November, the budget that had been used was only around 54 percent. This means that efforts are still needed to encourage budget absorption so that the growth trend can be maintained or even increased.