Infrastructure Development an Indonesian Priority

Infrastructure development undertaken by the Indonesian government aims to boost the economy and achieve equitable social justice, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated before members of the Islamic Students Association in Ambon, Maluku, on Wednesday.

“It is necessary to prioritize the development of infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, ports and airports, as well as reservoirs and power plants to sustain our national economy in order to compete with other countries,” Jokowi noted in his speech to open the 30th Congress of HMI at the Pattimura University.

The president asserted that in addition to boosting the economy, infrastructure development is also a tangible embodiment of the fifth principle of Pancasila that aims to realize social justice for all Indonesian people.

The head of state paid a visit to Ambon in Maluku Province to open the HMI Congress and to observe the construction of a labor-intensive project in Batumerah village, Siriamau sub-district.

The International Monetary Fund released a report about the Indonesian economy on February 6, in which the Washington-based institution paints a positive picture of the prospects for economic growth. Indonesia’s real GDP growth is projected to rise gradually to 5.6% year-on-year over the medium term, led by robust domestic demand.

The IMF projects Indonesian inflation to remain around 3.5% (y/y) in 2018, comfortably within the central bank’s official target range (2.5 - 4.5% y/y), on the back of stable food and administered prices, and well anchored inflation expectations. Indonesia’s current account deficit is expected to remain under control near 2% of the country’s gross domestic product amid strengthening commodity prices (which impact positively on Indonesia’s export performance) as well as robust (other) exports.