Detiktoday.com – Several Southeast Asian countries have experienced an economic recession due to the impact of the corona virus pandemic, such as Singapore and Thailand. Thailand’s finance minister and several Thai finance and economic staff have resigned because they have been unable to deal with the economic recession that occurred in his country.
President Joko Widodo called on regional heads to accelerate regional government spending to drive the economy amid this pandemic. According to him, spending of the central and regional government budget is the only way to be able to survive while recovering the national economy
“We can no longer expect investment, it must be minus growth. What can be expected right now is government spending,” the President said while giving directions to the governors held at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, on Wednesday, July 15, 2020.
The President reminded that the regional government budget that is still settling in the bank is currently at Rp170 trillion. According to him, the number is still relatively large.
Every day, the President now monitors the absorption of the ministry’s budget and currently the Head of State also holds information on the absorption of the regional government budget.
“The local government money in the bank is still Rp170 trillion, this is huge. I am now checking daily. My ministry is checking daily, how much is realized, everything is discovered. Even now I have the daily, provincial, regency, and city,” said the President.
On the occasion, the President detailed the absorption of capital expenditure in a number of regions which he said were still relatively low.
“We must invite our bureaucracy so there is speed here. Be careful, if we do not remind you, capital expenditure is still all low,” the President said.
Similar to what was conveyed to the ranks of the Advanced Indonesian Cabinet, President Joko Widodo also reminded that in the current situation government management that must be used is management in the context of crisis. Therefore, the extraordinary work of the local government is needed to be able to handle the impact of the pandemic in their respective regions, both in terms of health and economy.
“I believe that the heads of regions, especially the governors, can control the management of Covid’s control so that we are truly considered to have the ability to manage this country,” the President said.
