VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Bambang Soesatyo was officially inaugurated as new Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives–DPR RI on Monday, January 15 at Parliamentary building in Jakarta on Tuesday,replacing Setya Novanto.  In response to this, Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly, Zulkifli Hasan told the press  on Tuesday (16/1) that the new Speaker must be able to work optimally to support and realize the welfare of Indonesian people.

“Firstly, I would like to congartulate Bambang Soesatyo who has been inaugurated  asthe speaker of the House, although he will serve less than 2 years. I hoped, with the leadership of the new chairman, the House’s performance will improve, so the parliament can be a representativeto realize the people’s aspiration,” said Zulkifli Hasan.

Moreover Zulkifli Hasan hoped that the new House speaker Bambang Soesatyo is able tolead members of the House well and provide significant input for Indonesian government for the sake of the improvement of Indonesian nations//AF.VOI

Director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance or INDEF, Enny Sri Hartati believes that Indonesia's economic growth in 2018 can exceed the government's target of 5.4 percent. In a special interview with Voice of Indonesia on Tuesday, January 16, she explained, in 2017 and the growth of neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia has improved. The improving condition of the external economy boosted optimism and showed a recovery in the global economy. According to her, Indonesia has the potential source of extraordinary economic growth. Indonesian population growing above 265 million people is a huge source of household consumption. Enny explained, as the potential of resources and markets, Indonesia is much better than other countries in ASEAN. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges faced such as slowing household consumption and limited realization of investment figures. Increased investment can support Indonesia's economic growth acceleration.

She also said “ Homework “in 2018 is how soon the government to recover from public purchasing power. The second is how to really realize the commitment of the investors to investment in the real sector. The key is investment in the real sector, because if you just enter the portfolio as 2017 , it did not have a significant impact or a significant contribution to the acceleration of economic growth.

Enny further explained, the effectiveness of government spending also gives a significant impact for economic growth. The government has a budget of more than 2000 trillion rupiah. According to Enny, the procurement of goods amounting to approximately 400 trillion can be used to absorb domestic products that can promote the Indonesian industry. In addition, funds for village can also be used to improve rural products. Thus, rural products can meet domestic demand even for export. (voi)