Accelerate Economic Transformation, This is Real Evidence of Efforts News – 49 minutes ago

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – In order for the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) to remain reliable in improving the welfare of the people, the APBN must be kept healthy. One way is to implement better spending or quality shopping. In this way, the APBN remains prime in stimulating the economy.

“The APBN is not just a number. However, it is an instrument that contains direction and strategy.” This was conveyed by the Head of the APBN Policy Center, Fiscal Policy Agency, Wahyu Utomo.


Wahyu further presents concrete evidence of quality spending that has been carried out by the government over the past year. This includes improving the quality of human resources (HR) and infrastructure. These two sectors are important keys in accelerating inclusive and sustainable economic transformation.

To create superior human resources, education spending in the 2014-2022 period, for example, has succeeded in increasing the number of schools for elementary schools by 1.5 thousand schools, junior high schools by 4.9 thousand schools, and high school/vocational school schools by 3.6 thousand schools.

The addition of school buildings was also accompanied by an increase in the average length of schooling from 7.85 years to 8.87 years for girls and from 8.61 years to 9.28 years for boys.

Furthermore, during the same period, spending in the health sector continued to be optimized to increase productivity. The number of public hospitals, for example, increased from 1,855 hospitals (2014) to 2,522 hospitals (2021). The decline in stunting prevalence was also recorded quite significantly from 37.2% in 2013 to 21.6% in 2022.

The budget allocation for handling Covid-19 in the 2020-2022 period, including for vaccination, has also succeeded in removing society from the pressure of the pandemic.

“This means that so far the use of education and health budgets to support superior human resources has had a positive impact. Improvements in the quality of education, improvements in the quality and health services,” said Wahyu.

Photo: Real Steps to Accelerate Economic Transformation. (Doc. Ministry of Finance)
Real Steps to Accelerate Economic Transformation. (Doc. Ministry of Finance)

Apart from that, the government is also focusing on quality spending to reduce poverty levels. The policy is to protect people’s purchasing power, both through various social security programs and providing targeted subsidies.

As a result, the poverty level was recorded to have decreased sharply. In 2014, the poverty rate was 11.25%, decreasing to 9.41% in 2019. And in 2023, the poverty rate will further decrease to 9.36%. The reduction in poverty rates is in line with the increasing reach of the Family Hope Program (PKH) from 2.8 million Beneficiary Families (KPM) in 2014 to 10 million KPM in 2022.

Thanks to the strategy implemented by the Government, the unemployment rate has decreased. In the 2014-2019 period, 17.9 million jobs were created (net). Then it decreased by 0.3 million people (net) due to the pandemic (2020). The 2021-2022 economic recovery will be able to create jobs for 6.8 million people (net). So that the unemployment rate will fall to 5.45% in 2023.

In line with efforts to improve the quality of human resources, the government is also aware that adequate infrastructure is needed to realize its ideals as a developed country. For this reason, the government continues to boost infrastructure development to increase productivity, connectivity and competitiveness.

This achievement can be seen, among other things, from the increase in the length of operational toll roads from 802 km in 2014 to 2,687 km in 2022. The number of public roads from 517.75 thousand km in 2014 increased to 549.16 thousand km in 2022. Electricity generation in 2014 was 53 GW will increase sharply to 81.20 GW in 2022. Even with dam capacity, from 6.39 billion meters3 in 2014 it will jump to 16.96 billion meters3 in 2022. The number of airports from 237 units in 2014 to 287 airports in 2022. And ports from 1,655 units in 2014 to 3,157 ports in 2022.

Thanks to effective fiscal policies, Indonesia has succeeded in dealing with Covid-19 effectively. The national economy recovered more quickly and emerged stronger, with stable economic growth at 5% and controlled inflation. Fiscal performance is getting healthier and welfare is increasing. Indonesia is also able to take part in international forums amidst global uncertainty. In 2022, Indonesia was trusted and successfully hosted the G20 Summit. In 2023, Indonesia will also successfully hold the ASEAN Summit.

“This is again clear evidence that development is being carried out with full seriousness. The budget has increased, followed by increased output and outcomes,” he said.

So that fiscal policy in the APBN is able to respond to economic dynamics, answer economic challenges, and support the development agenda. The APBN is carried out well according to its duties and functions. APBN as a Shock Absorber, functions as stabilization. The APBN with its allocation function as a development agent, primarily carries out economic transformation. And the APBN carries out a distribution function as a solution for people’s welfare.

“One of the conditions for moving towards an advanced Indonesia is to get out of the middle income trap, the way is to accelerate economic transformation,” concluded Wahyu.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

Next Article

All Messed Up! Sri Mulyani: Our Challenges Are Not Getting Easier

(mij/mij)