Sri Mulyani: Effects of Remote Working Triggering Inflation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani in a public lecture held virtually on Friday said the Covid-19 pandemic not only left a deep scar in terms of lives lost but also sparked a new way of living among the general public. One of which, she said, is working remotely through online platforms which unexpectedly created a new complication, inflation. 

"There is this gesture where people feel that they can live three years without leaving the house. This creates an attitude of reluctance to return to the normal labor market (outside the home)," said Sri Mulyani on Friday, 3 February.

She referred to a similar situation happening in the United States. In 2021, there was a big surge in economic recovery in the country after mass vaccination programs. According to her, this has made the US government confident about its economic growth but saw a deep decline on the labor supply side.

Sri Mulyani said many restaurants had opened but business owners had difficulty finding restaurant waiters. Factories eventually opened again post-pandemic but recruiting workers back became a difficult task.

In addition, commodity supply in the US faced disruption that boosted demands, but the supply was not fulfilled. Sri Mulyani pointed out when imported goods that arrived at the port cannot be brought in due to truck drivers' scarcity. 

"This is what caused the economic recovery in 2022 to give way to a new complication, which is inflation. Prices rose because demand was faster than supply," said Sri Mulyani.

Rising prices, said Sri Mulyani, exacerbated inflation which had soared due to the disruption in the supply of labor and commodities that occurred as the pandemic has seemingly subsided. She assessed that this phenomenon is faced by all countries in the world in an effort to restore their economy.

"It is this complication that must be responded to. The pandemic has not yet ended, balance and harmony between demand and supply have not occurred, coupled with the huge disruption problem," the Finance Minister remarked. 

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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