Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Prabowo-Gibran National Campaign Team confirmed that the two candidate pairs (Paslon) were committed to continuing the development of the Indonesian Capital City (IKN) and other infrastructure projects to encourage economic growth.
TKN Deputy Chair Erwin Aksa conveyed this in the Your Money Your Vote event on CNBC Indonesia, Wednesday (22/11/2023). Erwin said that IKN development would move the wheels of the economy, plus other infrastructure projects that would create economic equality.
“That’s IKN development, but in all of Indonesia there is development. For example, irrigation, we have to repair we have dams, lots of repairs are needed, road improvements, we need a trans toll road from West Sulawesi to Eastern Sulawesi,” said Erwin.
Erwin then explained the sources of costs for infrastructure development. He said Prabowo-Gibran increased state revenue by increasing the tax ratio and reducing APBN leakage.
“Again, where do the funds come from? We have to increase our tax ratio, we have to reduce leaks,” he said. When asked about the source of APBN funds, Erwin admitted that these projects would burden the budget.
However, he mentioned the courage to increase the deficit ratio. “Yes, automatically, there we have a deficit ratio, don’t we dare increase our deficit ratio from 3% to 6%,” he said.
Erwin continued by touching on debt. He said Indonesia’s debt ratio was still better than other countries. “Indonesia’s debt ratio is still good compared to other countries, I think all economists here understand this, that’s why I say its economy, stupid,” said Erwin.
It’s economics, stupid! was the campaign jargon of former United States President Bill Clinton in 1992. The jargon was created as a criticism of the economic achievements of incumbent US presidential candidate George H. W Bush.
Senior economist Didik J. Rachbini who was present as a resource person criticized Erwin’s opinion regarding the debt ratio. He said that if Japan had forests of IDR 7,000 trillion, then they would have lower interest obligations than when Indonesia was in debt.
“Our problem with Japan and Singapore is different. If Japan has a debt of IDR 7 thousand trillion like us, then the interest is IDR 30 trillion. If we have a debt of IDR 7 thousand trillion, then the interest is IDR 400 trillion. That’s the difference so we pay a lot, because of the interest “6%, Japan 0.2%. So we have to be careful in this public debate, we have to remain rational,” he said.
Responding to Didik’s statement, Erwin said that Prabowo-Gibran wanted to implement the idea of a third way economy. This idea was put forward by Anthony Giddens, namely regarding a third way of economic development between capitalism and socialism.
“We have to tax the rich, then give it to the poor. And again, we need targeted distribution of BLT, social assistance, PKH,” he said.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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