Jokowi Hopes Oil Prices to Remain Unaffected Despite War in Gaza
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23 December 2023 02:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi hoped that the mass extermination occurring in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, would not affect oil prices. He is optimistic that Indonesia's economy will remain strong next year.
The armed conflict between the Palestinian resistance group and Israeli forces in Gaza since the beginning of October created the most significant geopolitical risk over the global oil market since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
Despite no real impact on the oil market yet, analysts and observers expected two significant implications if the conflict ever escalates.
First was the US tightening its sanction on Iran if found involved with Hamas' attack on the Israeli forces. This will put a grave burden on an already dwindling oil market.
Second, the agreement that normalized the relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel could fail along with an escalation of the conflict.
In his opening remarks during Indonesia's 2024 Economic Outlook on Friday, Jokowi said that the country's economic growth is stable at around 5 percent, above the global average of 2.9 percent.
Jokowi said that Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has told him that the global oil market would likely stop being turbulent. "Our fear of the armed conflict in Gaza causing oil prices to hike will hopefully not turn into reality," he said on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023.
There is no reason for the government to stop being optimistic while looking at the prospect of the economy next year, the president said. However, he also noted about food issue, the slow-down of main economic partners such as China, and the tightening of US monetary policies which suppressed developing countries' capital flow.
DANIEL A. FAJRI
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