Thomas Lembong’s insights, reflecting on CNBC TV, align with Anies Baswedan’s vision for economic policy, emphasizing equitable prosperity over mere infrastructural achievements.. #kbanews
BY chance, when I opened YouTube, there was an interesting offer from the CNBC TV Channel discussing AMIN’s economic policy.
This interview was very interesting to watch. This is the first time I have learned about the brilliant views of AMIN’s Economic Team from an expert and economic practitioner, Thomas Lembong. In this CNBC program, Thomas Lembong was accompanied by Sugeng Bahagiyo, an economic policy expert from PKB.
First, AMIN will not emphasize economic policy on the target of spectacular infrastructure development that is interpreted as progress, but more importantly, AMIN’s policy will prioritize equitable economy for prosperity through fair distribution as a primary concern.
Here Thomas Lembong illustrates progress in the United States, China, and India that have advanced so far, yet there are still significant disparities in welfare.
Second, regarding Indonesia’s increasingly large and precarious debt, Thomas Lembong believes that restrictions on state-owned enterprises’ debt must be made drastically, while the future AMIN government will open wider business opportunities to the private sector until it has confidence in the economic climate carried out by the government.
It seems that AMIN’s economic policy will no longer rely on the state (state-owned enterprises) as the main economic actor as it is now, but the private sector will be placed as the main driver for economic acceleration. And for that reason, government policy will certainly be prioritized on providing support and guarantees for a conducive, fair, and accelerative private business climate.
The solution to address the debt that has burdened the state finances, according to Thomas Lembong, is influenced by how far we can manage reliable debt governance.
According to Lembong, debt governance will be changed. It is no longer permissible for foreign debt to use only one currency, namely the US Dollar. Diversification of other currencies is mandatory, so our foreign debt is not burdened by the fluctuation of just one currency as it has been with the US Dollar.
Third, according to Lembong, and also confirmed by Sugeng Bahagiyo, one of the main reasons for creating a good government is “Open Government”. This means that openness of data is the main gateway to diagnosing national economic problems, thus finding the most appropriate and fair solution.
Thomas Lembong views that data transparency is decreasing compared to the previous government.
Even amid the current scarcity of data transparency, it is more concerning if the data presented is only for the fulfillment of image purposes.
What Thomas Lembong conveyed indeed refers to the direction of economic policy offered by Anies Baswedan on various occasions.
In essence, I see AMIN’s policy approach if elected and trusted by the people is truly to return the national economic policy in the right direction, namely economic development policies for the welfare and prosperity of the people.
What Thomas Lembong articulated above certainly convinces us that the direction of national development change will move in the right direction, oriented towards welfare and justice.
AMIN’s development policy, which is oriented towards the welfare of the people, is truly extraordinary.
This is the magnitude of the change offered by AMIN’s candidates, presenting an acceleration of national development in the hands of leaders committed to advancing their people and country.
Not to advance a handful of greedy forces through weak and wasteful artificial projects…
* Abdullah Uwais Alatas, Columnist
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