Purbaya Affirms Traditional Markets are Not Defunct

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa affirmed that traditional markets are not defunct after observing trading activity directly at Beringharjo Market and Teras Malioboro 1 in Yogyakarta on Tuesday, 17 March.

Purbaya disputed the view held by several observers who had previously claimed traditional markets were experiencing decline. “We wanted to see if traditional markets truly are dead, but here they remain bustling with high turnover. Here it can reach Rp2 trillion. Hopefully in the future it will be even busier if we improve the economy ahead,” Purbaya said.

According to him, despite economic recovery following the slowdown through the third quarter of the previous year remaining uneven, conditions at several trading centres showed positive trends. He cited similar conditions also visible at Tanah Abang Market and several trading centres in Bandung which remained busy.

“So it does not appear as defunct as those observers claimed,” he said.

During the visit, Purbaya was accompanied by the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, who also inspected several merchant stalls. Beyond observing trading activity, Purbaya also purchased various products including batik, cloth and t-shirts.

He assessed Yogyakarta’s micro, small and medium enterprises (UMKM) products to possess high competitiveness, both in terms of quality and price. “I purchased quite a bit because compared to Jakarta, the prices here are very good. In Jakarta perhaps several million rupiah, here around several hundred thousand. I asked merchants about additional capital, they said they already had enough. This is a strong signal that liquidity at the merchant level in Yogyakarta’s markets has improved,” he said.

Before visiting Beringharjo Market, Purbaya also inspected Teras Malioboro 1 to monitor the utilisation of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Development Fund.