TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Presidential Palace responded to the criticism issued by a foreign economist regarding President Jokowi’s statement claiming that Indonesia has the third fastest economic growth in the world.

According to Chief of Presidential Staff Teten Masduki, Jokowi’s data was referred to other G20 countries and not the world's.

“President Jokowi wasn’t comparing it to the world, but among G20 countries instead. I don’t know whether there was a misquote by the foreign economist or not,” he said today, May 3.

Teten responded to an article issued by economist Jake van Der Kamp’s business column issued in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) who criticized President Jokowi’s data. Jake argues that Jokowi has been using the incorrect data because according to Jake, Indonesia's rank in the world’s economic growth is the 13th and not the third.

Teten considers that this is all a misunderstanding because President Jokowi used the G20 data when he was explaining about the subject. The presidential staff chief doubts that Jokowi misquoted the data since the data had been used by the president on numerous occasions.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati also gave her opinion on this matter. “We’re not claiming to have the highest economic growth in the world. The president said that he was comparing it among other G20 countries,” she said.

ISTMAN M.P.