JAKARTA. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that economic transformation to resolve the current account deficit (CAD) should take place through the downstreaming and industrialisation of natural resources.
"The CAD problem has not been resolved for decades, but I believe it can be resolved through economic transformation," said Mr Widodo at the Kompas 100 CEO Forum, Thursday (28/11).
Furthermore, said Mr Widodo, Indonesia's dependency on the movement of raw commodity prices also makes its economy susceptible against the volatility of the rupiah exchange rate and growth.
"Thus, going forward our agenda is to increase export and import substitution. In addition, [we also should] attract as many foreign exchanges as possible through the development of tourist destinations and, the Investment Coordinating Board's homework, attracting foreign direct investment," said Mr Widodo.
Until the third quarter of 2019, Indonesia's CAD was recorded at US$ 7.7 billion or 2.7% of the GDP. Last year the CAD had reached as high as US$ 31 billion or 2.98% of the PDB. (AM/MS)