Financial Services Authority’s (OJK’s) Board of Commissioners’ Chairman Mahendra Siregar emphasized the need for Indonesia to stimulate new sources of growth in the regions to face global economic uncertainties in the coming years.
“We have to stimulate new economic growth, in new areas, in areas that have not been well-reached so far,” Siregar stated during a webinar titled “Socialization and Education of Consumer Protection” by OJK and Hasanuddin University, monitored here on Monday.
In this context, he said OJK’s contribution is also deemed necessary to assist and stimulate sources of new growth in the regions.
“In the past, (OJK’s role) was an optional role. Today, if we do not do that, Indonesia does not have the resilience to face tough global challenges. This is a matter of survival, no longer a matter of optional,” Siregar pointed out.
He highlighted that Indonesia had advantages in terms of the diversity of sources of new economic growth in various regions, coupled with a demographic bonus.
“The domestic market must be optimized through consumption, investment, and government spending,” Siregar noted.
“In the context of real sector growth in the domestic economy, regional growth is the essence,” he further remarked.
He said one of the independent authorities’ efforts to create new sources of growth in the regions was to increase financial inclusion and literacy of the local community.
On that occasion, OJK and Hasanuddin University, Makassar, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), with the objective of increasing the community’s financial inclusion and literacy in South Sulawesi.
“To stimulate an increase in the role of the financial services sector in the economy and regional growth, the financial services system must have integrity, be trusted, and not raise doubts in the public,” he stated.
In the meantime, three regions in eastern Indonesia recorded the highest economic growth sequentially in the third quarter of 2022.
The three regions are Sulawesi where the figure reached 8.24 percent on a year-on-year (yoy) basis; Maluku and Papua, 7.51 percent, as compared to the previous year; as well as Bali and Nusa Tenggara that recorded 6.69 percent in comparison with the previous year.
Source: Antara News