GOVERNMENT, HOUSE AGREE TO REVISE DOWN GROWTH TARGET IN 2016

Jakarta, 9 Dhulhijjah 1436/23 September 2015 (MINA) -Indonesian government and the House of Representatives (DPR) have agreed to revise several assumptions set in the draft 2016 state budget, including the economic growth target, which is revised down from 5.5 to 5.3 percent.

The decision to revise several assumptions in the draft 2016 state budget was made in a working meeting between the government and Commission XI on financial affairs of the DPR on Tuesday night.

The house budgetary body will use the assumptions as a basis for calculating the posture of the state budget for 2016. Antaranews quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“There were differences in opinions during the deliberations. However, when we spoke about Indonesia, the nation and motherland, then we all shared the same opinion and reached a conclusion,” Commission XI Chairman Fadel Muhammad stated on Tuesday night.

He noted that lawmakers of Commission XI finally agreed to the 5.3 percent growth target revision proposed by the government. It revised the previous target set at 5.5 percent in the financial notes that the government had proposed recently.

The revised target is viewed to be more realistic in the face of the global economic conditions next year.

During the session, the two sides also agreed to maintain the inflation rate and the three-month treasury bills (SPN-3) as set in the previous assumptions at 4.7 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. The rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar was revised from Rp13.4 thousand per US dollar as set in the financial notes to Rp13.9 thousand per US dollar.

Before the agreement was reached, four factions of the Commission proposed a revised growth target of 5.3 percent, three factions mentioned 5.2 percent, and three others proposed a range of 5.1-5.3 percent.

For the rupiah exchange rate, five factions proposed Rp13.9 thousand per US dollar, two factions assumed Rp14 thousand per US dollar, one faction opted for Rp13.8 thousand per US dollar, and two others mentioned a range of Rp13.7 thousand-Rp14 thousand.

With regard to the inflation rate, seven factions assumed 4.7 percent, while the remaining three factions suggested a range of 4.5 percent, give or take one percent. For the SPN-3, eight factions proposed a rate of 5.5 percent, one suggested a range of 5.5-6 percent, and another one placed it at under 5 percent.

For the development index rates, they agreed to place the employment rate at 5.2-5.5 percent, poverty rate at 9-10 percent, Gini index at 0.39 percent, and the human development index at 70.1 percent.

The working meeting with Commission XI of the DPR was attended by Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, Bank Indonesia (BI/the central bank) Governor Agus Martowardojo, National Development Planning Minister/Head of the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) Sofyan Djalil, and Head of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Suryamin. (T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)