VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that to strengthen the economy, structural reforms need to be taken because it is not enough to rely on the state budget and monetary policy.

"The biggest homework for the economy is structural reforms because it is impossible to manage the economy only depending on macro, fiscal and monetary policies," Sri Mulyani said in a webinar of the National Symposium on State Finance (SNKN) in Jakarta, Wednesday.

According to her, the government can not only rely on widening the fiscal deficit, increasing spending, or providing tax incentives.

Likewise, the central bank has also lowered the benchmark interest rate, thus increasing banking liquidity. Improvement in the real sector, he said, also needs to be done because it is the foundation of the economic structure.

She continued, with Indonesia's large demographics and large young population job seekers are increasing, especially with COVID-19 increasing the unemployment rate.

For that, the government must focus on creating job opportunities while ensuring that the environment for doing business must also be good.

"This does not mean that we take sides with the capitalists and do not side with the people. We have the same needs, how can the environment do business while the people can do business cheaply, easily and surely," she added.

One step is taken, he said, was through the Omnibus Job Creation to answer economic challenges, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facing extraordinary situations such as the pandemic, she continued, the government used the state budget as an instrument to achieve the goal of a state, namely a just, prosperous, and sustainable society.

However, the APBN also needs to be maintained gradually, so it remains a solution, not a source of problems.

The trick, she said, was to gradually reduce the state budget deficit arising from government spending in dealing with the pandemic.

"Not always at a sudden pace because if we straighten the state budget out, the economy may become fragile again. We always looking for a formulation on how to gradually consolidate and restore, while the economy is strengthened," she said. (Antaranews)

Construction of a new waste treatment plant in Palembang worth Rp. 1.2 trillion, co-financed by Australia and Indonesia, will start today.

The project will connect 12,000 households and the business sector with sewerage services and directly benefit about 60,000 people in Palembang City. In the coming years, the planned expansion will connect another 40,000 people and provide them with waste disposal services.

"Australia is proud to work closely with the Indonesian government and the City of Palembang to co-fund and implement this important infrastructure project," said Australian Chargé d'affaires for Indonesia, Alison Duncan at the groundbreaking ceremony.

This project will make a real difference to the quality of life of tens of thousands of families in Palembang, from providing access to clean water and sanitation to helping prevent the spread of disease and having a significant impact on children's health and nutrition.

Australian companies are helping by bringing knowledge and expertise, and capital, to the key sectors of the economy that Indonesia is trying to further develop and make a real contribution to Indonesia's employment, income, and economic recovery.

"This project, a consortium between Australian firm McConnell Dowell and PT Pembangunan Perumahan (Persero) will demonstrate Australia's capabilities and expertise in planning, designing, and implementing large-scale infrastructure," said Ms. Duncan.

This project shows a new and sustainable way of planning, financing, building, managing, and maintaining infrastructure at the city level that can be replicated in cities across Indonesia. (VOI)

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that the weather in most parts of Indonesia is sunny and cloudy, but in several other areas it rains light to heavy on November 4-5 2020 at 07.00 WIB.

Based on the numerical weather model output data from the BMKG Weather Prediction Sub-Division, Wednesday, the weather on the island of Sumatra is cloudy with the potential for light rain.

However, some areas in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra (Sumbar), Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, South Sumatra (Sumsel) and Lampung have the potential for moderate to heavy rain.

Next, the weather in Java Island is sunny and cloudy with the potential for light rain, but parts of West Java in the south, Central Java, in the West, and East Java in the south have the potential for moderate rain.

The weather on Kalimantan Island is cloudy and has the potential for light rain, while parts of West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and North Kalimantan have the potential for moderate to heavy rain.

The weather in Sulawesi is also generally expected to be cloudy with the potential for light rain, but the potential for moderate rain is predicted to occur in parts of North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and South Sulawesi has the potential for moderate rain.

Meanwhile, in areas in Bali, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), the weather is sunny and cloudy and has the potential for light rain.

Meanwhile, Maluku and Papua, especially in parts of western Maluku, North Maluku, and Papua have the potential for moderate to heavy rain. But in general, it's cloudy with the potential for light rain. (Antaranews)

The IHS Markit company report shows Indonesia's manufacturing industry is rising from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to their records, this was marked by an increase in Indonesia's manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), in October 2020.

According to the report, Indonesia's manufacturing PMI, in October 2020, was at the level of 47.8. This figure is an increase compared to the PMI in September, which was at the level of 47.2. The increase has caught the attention of the Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.

"Alhamdulillah, although this slight increase is good news, it shows that there is still a high level of trust from industry players. Hopefully, this will be a collective spirit to encourage national economic recovery," said Agus in Jakarta, Tuesday (3/11/2020).

The increase in Indonesia's manufacturing PMI, he continued, at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2020, revived, and became a positive signal for performing the Indonesian economy.

During the pandemic, the manufacturing sector was severely affected by the full implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in several areas. Agus expressed his appreciation to several regional governments for easing the PSBB in their regions.

"Apart from being able to support industrial sector activities, these efforts indicate that the spread of the coronavirus has been suppressed," said Agus.

Agus is determined to keep the wheels of the economy moving by ensuring the continuity of operations and mobility of industrial activities.

"By maintaining strict health protocols. With the policy of granting Operational Permits and Industrial Activity Mobility (IOMKI). I am optimistic that people's needs can be met and can prevent massive layoffs," said Agus.

He also emphasized that efforts to increase people's purchasing power are very important because it triggers an increase in the confidence of the expanding industry players.

"We can use November and December as a reference whether the recovery really happened," he said.

This is because, he said, the drop in PMI, in September 2020, rather than the previous month, was due to the industry's lack of trust because they were still very careful in deciding during the Covid-19 pandemic.

IHS Markit Chief Economist, Bernard Aw said, handling the Covid-19 pandemic and the availability of vaccines were the keys to increasing demand in the manufacturing sector the following month. According to him, survey respondents have also shown an increase in costs in production.

"While companies do not have room to increase selling prices in line with weakening purchasing power," said Bernard.

Bernard explained, the price increase occurred in raw materials.

"Such as basic metals, chemicals, plastics, and some foodstuffs, which drive up costs," he said.

However, he continued, the company reduced its selling price.

"It marks the first reduction in the cost of finished goods since March 2020," explained Bernard.

From the businessmen's point of view, they also hope that the pandemic will end soon.

"The main key in efforts to recover the national economy is handling Covid-19. Handling it is not easy, but if the PSBB is implemented again because cases are increasing again, it will be more worrying," said Chairman of the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) Hariyadi Sukamdani.