Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto speaks to the media in a press conference after accompanying President Joko Widodo's Meeting with Managing Director of Operations of the World Bank Anna Bjerde at the Merdeka Palace, Thursday (25/07). Photo: ekon.go.id
VOInews, Jakarta: The World Bank recognizes the performance of the Indonesian government in overcoming poverty and maintaining the resilience of national economic growth amid global challenges. This was conveyed by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto in a press conference after accompanying President Joko Widodo's meeting with World Bank Managing Director for Operations Anna Bjerde at the Merdeka Palace on Thursday (25/07).
The World Bank appreciates the programmes implemented by the government, including poverty reduction and programmes related to agricultural infrastructure, including irrigation. Earlier, a World Bank delegation from Lombok saw how farmers' incomes were increasing and irrigation was going well. Then the results of agriculture also boosted the farmers' exchange rate. The World Bank also appreciates Indonesia's stunting programme,' Airlangga said.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the World Bank appreciated Indonesia's stable economic growth of over 5% (yoy) with a low inflation rate. The World Bank also said that Indonesia's economic growth is still outperforming the global economy, which is projected to grow at around 2.6 percent (yoy) to 2.7 percent (yoy) in 2024. Global economic growth is also expected to remain below 5% (yoy) in 2025.
Quoted from the econ.go.id page. 'With the national economic growth reaching 5.11% (yoy) in Q1-2024 and inflation remaining at around 2.58%, the national economy is able to show resilience in the face of various global challenges. A number of recognitions from various international institutions on these conditions have also further coloured the resilience of the national economy," wrote ekon.go.id.
Through the implementation of various programmes, Airlangga said, President Joko Widodo mentioned a decrease in the stunting rate in the last 10 years from 37% in 2013 to 21% in 2023. There is also a decrease in the extreme poverty rate from 6.2% in 2014 to 0.8% in March 2024. In relation to the programme, President Joko Widodo also spoke about the Rp71 trillion Village Fund, which will be used for various activities in rural areas, including reducing stunting.
Furthermore, in relation to Indonesia's plan to become a developed country, several priorities implemented by the government such as infrastructure development to promote connectivity and downstream programmes are also highly appreciated by the World Bank. Going forward, President Joko Widodo mentioned that food security and green energy are important, as Indonesia also has programmes related to clean energy, including hydro-solar geothermal. In this context, the World Bank said it was important to develop electricity transmission infrastructure.
The President also reminded that the energy transition needs to be concerned with affordable prices for the community, therefore multiple sources of energy with inter-island transmission are certainly expected to make prices can be enjoyed by the community. Of course, the various government subsidies will also be directed to those who are entitled to them," Airlangga said.
On the same occasion, Airlangga also revealed that President Joko Widodo had conveyed the government's priorities in the area of human resources (HR) development through retraining, reskilling and upskilling programmes to meet future job needs.
In addition, President Joko Widodo also said that up to 64,000 MSMEs have access to the green credit scheme through the People's Business Credit (KUR) mechanism. In addition, the World Bank also mentioned several programmes that can support electricity infrastructure, such as the best practices implemented by India, which is seeking similar funding sources to PLN, but the funding is also supported by the World Bank.
In addition, Airlangga mentioned that President Joko Widodo has promoted policies in the area of managing sustainability, including the development of nurseries in various locations that produce seeds or plants on a large scale, such as in IKN, which has reached 15 million seeds, and also in several regions, including Bali, around 6 million seeds per year.
Therefore, the World Bank believes that the programme implemented by Indonesia is a massive and large-scale programme and is expected to become a model for other countries outside Indonesia," Airlangga concluded.
Source: ekon.go.id.
