World Economy in Dire Condition Due to Inflation: President Jokowi

TheIndonesia.co - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that the world is in a dire condition due to weak economic growth, but inflation is also rising, causing the prices of some commodities to rise. President Jokowi conveyed this when opening the 2022 National Gathering of the Indonesian Army Retired Association (PPAD) in Sentul, West Java, Friday.

"Economic growth is down but inflation is rising, the prices of all goods are going up. This is a condition I can really convey to the world in a dire condition," said President Jokowi as witnessed virtually through the PPAD TNI TV YouTube account, Friday, August 5, 2022.

The President said IMF and World Bank noted that there would be 66 countries whose economies would collapse due to the impact of war and food crises. Of the 66 countries, nine countries have gradually been in difficult economic conditions, followed by 25 countries, and 42 countries.

President Jokowi stressed that currently, 320 million people in the world suffer from acute hunger. They are hungry because the economy is not only down, but also slumped.

Countries such as Singapore, the European region, Australia to the United States, inevitably experience weakening economic growth. Moreover, high world oil prices also contributed to high inflation that spread to the prices of food and other commodities.

"America, which usually increases goods or inflation by 1 percent, today is at 9.1 percent, gasoline has doubled, Europe is the same," said President Jokowi.

The Indonesian government has also raised the price of Pertalite to IDR 7,650 per liter or 10 percent of the previous price. In fact, with the condition of soaring world oil prices, the price of Pertalite should be pegged to Rp17,100 per liter. Therefore, the Government is still allocating a budget of up to Rp502 trillion for fuel subsidies.

"I remember that the demonstration when oil price went up 10 percent. I remember (it was) three months. If it goes up to more than 100 percent, the demonstration will take several months. This is what the government (doing) is currently controlling with subsidies. Because once the price of gasoline rises, the price of goods automatically jumps together," said President Jokowi.