Indonesia enjoyed 8.2 percent economic growth in 1995: Minister

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The goal of President Prabowo Subianto's administration to achieve eight percent economic growth is viable, as Indonesia once recorded an economic growth rate of 8.2 percent in 1995, Economic Affairs Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto stated.

He made the statement on the sidelines of the 2024 National Leadership Meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in Jakarta on Sunday. While the global economic growth rate is expected to grow only at 3.2 percent in 2024 and 2025, Indonesia's rate has been hovering above five percent this year, while the national inflation rate stands at 1.7 percent, he added.

Moreover, he continued, Indonesia has been successful in pegging its debt-to-gross domestic product ratio at below 40 percent. Hartarto went on to say that Indonesia is among the countries able to maintain their macroeconomic prudence despite the worldwide economic cataclysm brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister then highlighted Indonesia's feat in suppressing the poverty and unemployment rates among its citizens to under 10 percent.

He also emphasized the importance of overhauling the national economy by intensifying downstream efforts expected to boost the value of domestic products. Drawing attention to digitization, the minister assessed that the digital economy would emerge as the main driver of economic growth in the future.

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On that note, he underscored that the value of Indonesia's digital economy has reached US$90 billion and is projected to hike to US$120 billion by next year.

"By 2030, we can expect to see the value hitting US$400 billion," he added.

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Furthermore, Hartarto expressed optimism that Indonesia would be able to boost its global competitiveness by making the most of the opportunities presented by the digital economy.

"The digital economy acts as one of our means to make a leap forward," he stressed.