Jokowi stresses not to spend state income on imported products

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Tuesday reminded all government officials not to spend state income on imported products.

“We should not spend the money, which we have collected from various revenue sources for APBN (State Budget) and APBD (regional budgets), on imported products,” he remarked during the National Working Meeting of the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps (Korpri) in Jakarta.

Jokowi called on all government units to optimize the state income by prioritizing the purchase and use of domestically-produced goods.

He emphasized that if the government continued to prioritize the purchase and use of imported products, then the realization of state spending would not stimulate economic growth for the people, especially for those running micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

He said that such a spending trend would set aside the products of MSMEs, and not provide economic benefits for domestic companies. Instead, he added, this trend would benefit other countries.

“I would like to stress that this is not right,” he told the meeting’s participants.

Jokowi also said that he would be saddened if the state income is primarily used to purchase imported products.

“It would not be right if we had made all-out efforts to collect it (state income) but it benefited them (foreign companies) instead. This makes me sad,” he pointed out.

As of Tuesday, the realization of domestic product spending had only accounted for 69 percent and 56 percent of the state income allocated for APBN and APBD, respectively, he stated.

“We should continue to monitor the realization of domestic product spending,” Jokowi said.

The national meeting on Tuesday was also attended by Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (PAN-RB) Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas, and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.