State budget should be spent on local products, suggests Jokowi

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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, in a press release on Tuesday instructed state ministries to prioritize spending from the state budget (APBN) and regional budget (APBD) for locally produced products by compared to imported products, because that would be the taxpayers’ responsibility.

The current state budget is 2,417 trillion rupees while the regional budget stands at 1,197 trillion rupees. The president also lamented the benefits it would bring to other countries rather than Indonesia, Bisnis.com reported.

“It’s the state budget and the regional budget, you know. But [you] buy imported products. It is the other countries that will gain the added value, [and the] employment opportunities,” Jokowi said in the written statement dated June 14.

Jokowi believes that the two budgets should produce added value and increase the efficiency of the national economy and spending. He therefore ordered the Government’s Internal Control Apparatus (APIP) to oversee and monitor the domestic spending process.

At the 2022 National Coordination Meeting for Internal Government Oversight at the State Palace today, Jokowi also compared a number of tools, such as a low-speed sewing machine. Imported low-speed sewing machines, for example, are priced at 13 million rupees per unit, while local machines are priced below 12.8 million rupees.

Meanwhile, imported mechanical equipment costs 22.9 million rupees, while domestically produced products cost 28 million rupees. “Don’t say it’s cheaper. Because of the added value for the country, it opens up opportunities for national jobs. Buy NDP (local products) so there are more jobs because we buy domestic products,” Jokowi said.

BISNIS

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