Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia's economic growth relies greatly on capital city Jakarta, making every development step taken by the provincial administration very important nationally.

“If Jakarta grows, Indonesia will grow. Therefore, movements applied in Jakarta are very important," the governor of the central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI), Perry Warjiyo, said in a webinar here on Friday (Dec. 24).

Perry emphasized that the Jakarta provincial administration needs to strengthen herd immunity and provide booster vaccines because these two measures are very important to build immunity and open up the economic sector.

In addition, he also advised that Jakarta administration strengthen manufacturing, as well as increase digitalization and financial inclusions.

“Local markets like Tanah Abang (the biggest textile market in Indonesia) and others are sources of inclusion. Not only do they serve as markets, but also sources to stimulate the economy, and make Jakarta green," Perry said.

Jakarta's significant role in the national economy is reflected in the high household consumption in the capital city in influencing the output of such other regions as Java by 21 percent, Bali and Nusa Tenggara by 7 percent, Kalimantan by 6 percent, Sumatra by 5 percent, Sulawesi and Papua by 4 percent.

In the financial sector, Jakarta holds outstanding credit of 29 percent of the national amount.

Meanwhile, the savings of the Jakarta people reached 49 percent of the total national savings, with payment systems, especially non-cash, reaching 40 percent of the total 7,361 trillion rupiahs (some 518.76 billion U.S. dollars) transactions.

With the improvement of national and global economies, as well as the provision of COVID-19 vaccinations and continued infrastructure development in Jakarta, Bank Indonesia is confident that the capital city's economy would grow in the range of 3.5-4.3 percent in 2021 and 5.3-6.1 percent in 2022.

"Essentially, Jakarta will of course become the epicenter and driver of the national economy," said Perry.

Reporting by Indonesia Window