TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government will take strict measures to control imports and maintain the trade balance. One way is by suspending PLN's power plant projects that does not meet the minimum domestic component (TKDN) requirement.
Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said PLN's power plant projects will be evaluated.
"We will ask PLN projects with not enough domestic components to use local goods and materials. If they can't do that, they would have to reschedule, especially projects that have not been signed yet," the minister said here on Tuesday, Aug. 14.
The TKDN requirement, Luhut said, depends on the capacity of each power plant being built. However, he stressed that the policy only applies to projects in Java Island, which he said already has excessive electricity supply.
Luhut asserted that the evaluation will not have an impact on the 35,000 MW mega power project's progress. He said the policy is only taken to as a reaction to global uncertainties that have affected the state's economy.
"There is nothing to fear," he said, "We are only doing this to go through a period of global crisis," he said.
Previously, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that PLN and Pertamina were two SOEs with high volumes of capital goods imports. The government asked them to review their imports.
"It's not only about the domestic component requirements (TKDN), but they must also review the amount of capital goods imported. For projects that have not been financially closed, they will be postponed," Sri Mulyani said.
ANTARA