Prabowo-Luhut Hold Private Meeting at Palace, What Did They Discuss?

President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto held a closed meeting with the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta. The meeting discussed the state of the national economy as well as developments in the global situation. The moment of the meeting was also shared via the Cabinet Secretariat’s account on Tuesday (21/4), showing the two discussing in one of the rooms at Merdeka Palace. Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya stated that the domestic economic conditions are still considered quite stable, although the government continues to increase vigilance against the impacts of global uncertainties. “National economic activity is still very well maintained, but vigilance is still needed. The government is preparing anticipatory steps to respond to the impacts of global conflicts while maintaining the momentum of growth,” wrote Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. In the meeting, Luhut also presented several policy scenarios to maintain public purchasing power while ensuring the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) remains controlled, including through strengthening government digitalisation. “The Chairman of the National Economic Council presented several policy scenarios to maintain public purchasing power and ensure the APBN remains under control, including through strengthening government digitalisation (govtech),” he said. In addition, the discussion also covered the implementation of digitalisation of social assistance, which is currently being trialled in several regions. The government is encouraging the distribution of assistance to be more on target. “Digitalisation of social assistance is currently being trialled in Banyuwangi and will be expanded to 42 regencies/cities. This step is expected to increase transparency and accuracy in the distribution of social assistance,” he said. Not only that, the meeting also touched on Indonesia’s opportunities in utilising the global situation to attract investment, including from the Middle East region. “Along with global dynamics, the government also sees opportunities to attract capital flows, especially from the Middle East, through the acceleration of the establishment of the Indonesia Financial Center to strengthen national investment attractiveness,” said Teddy.