JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - Indonesia government is planning to issue new package of economic policies next week. This would be the ninth economic policy package issued by the government since second half last year in a bid to boost economic growth.
Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, made the statement at his Office in Jakarta on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
However, Minister Darmin, a former BI governor, refused to reveal the specific contents of the ninth economic package. Earlier, Darmin mentioned that the government would issue two policies to stimulate national industry development in 2016. The first policy will be related to permit deregulation in the region government, and the second policy will be related to protecting the domestic pharmacy industry.
According to Darmin, the domestic pharmacy industry needs to be protected because 90 percent of raw materials for pharmaceutical industry, petrochemical and health equipment sectors are still being imported.
The eight economic policy package was released by the government in December 2015. The package consists of three policies, namely the acceleration of the implementation of the one-map policy, the realization of energy sustainability through the development of domestic oil refineries, and import duty removal for airplane spareparts.
The government has set economic growth target of 5.3 percent in the 2016 State Budget compared to 4.7 percent in 2015. Some economists are saying that the target is within reach, assuming that the government speeds up the realization of its expenditure, accelerates infrastructure projects and boost investment.
On Tuesday, the National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) issued statement that it expects investment to rise to Rp594.8 billion in 2016, up 13.5 percent from 2015 estimation. In the nine months to September, investments have reached Rp400 trillion, up 17 percent from the same period in previous year. (*)