Indonesian president calls for getting ready to face food, energy, inflation crises

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) called on all parties to be prepared for global uncertainty due to the threat of food and energy crises as well as inflation.

The head of state emphasized this when opening the 2022 National Coordination Meeting for Government Internal Control at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Jokowi stressed that Indonesia must really anticipate the threat of a food crisis, in addition to taking into account the energy sector because half of the national supply is obtained from imports.

“We are a big country. Its food also needs big food. Its energy also needs big energy for vehicles, industry, households and others,” he said.

However, the head of state believes that in the midst of the challenges in dealing with these uncertainties, there are opportunities that can be exploited by Indonesia.

“We can also use the threat of a food crisis as an opportunity because our land is vast and untapped, lots of which are not yet productive,” he said, emphasizing the importance of sensitivity in dealing with the current uncertain situation.

“The World Bank and IMF said that there are approximately 60 countries whose economies would collapse, of which 40 have been estimated for certain. This is the uncertainty that I said earlier. We all must know, must have sensitivity, must have a sense of crisis,” the president said.

He asked his staff to be able to manage the government budget by prioritizing three things, namely efficiency, added values, and impacts on the economic growth.

“The government spending, the central government spending and local government spending, must have three important things. First, create added values. Don’t just buy, don’t just shop, but must give added values to this country. Second, it can generate domestic economic growth, triggering economic growth. Third, it is must be efficient,” he concluded.

Reporting by Indonesia Window