TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Didik J. Rachbini, an economist with the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), criticized the 2016 State Budget profile that might not be able to boost the economic growth, as the state revenue was not optimized for infrastructure developments.
Didik also expressed his doubt in relation to state revenue from the tax amnesty program. Didik compared the State Budget drafted during President Soeharto's era and that in President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's. During the new order era, the government allocated Rp 80 trillion (US$6.1 billion) for road construction and irrigation development.
Didik viewed that the allocation of Rp 1,000 trillion (US$76.9 billion) to build roads of 200-300 km long was inefficient.
"It's like having five credit cards used for many things. It's chaotic. That's how we see this issue," Didik said in Jakarta on Thursday, December 8, 2016.
Therefore, Didik expressed pessimism that the economic growth would reach above 5 percent next year.
"The realistic prediction [for the economic growth] is around 5 percent, because the policies we have made so far are no longer effective," Didik added.
Didik suggested that the government should boost the domestic growth.
"Deregulation, efficiency, and investment, among others, must be boosted so that our domestic market can thrive," Didik added.
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