Monday, July 21, 2008
Veep Believes State Earning Will Increase by Rp200 Trillion in 2010
Source: Antara News

Nusa Dua - Vice President Yusuf Kalla believed that the state's earnings would increase by Rp200 trillion in 2010.

"Such increase is to be derived from the ongoing energy retrenchment," he said in the 13th national congress of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Sunday.

The energy retrenchment meant by the vice president was the government's program of oil-to-gas conversion and a program of building coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 10,000 MW.

He further explained that of about Rp1,000 trillion in state budget,40-45 percent is used to subsidize fuel oil, electricity, food and for loan installment and interest.

The increase in the state's income will be used for investment and building infra-structure projects in a bid to support higher economic growth of the country.

"In 2011, we will be optimistic that economic growth will reach nine percent, and Indonesia will be a well-respected country in the Asian region," he said.

However, he added that all targets should go in tandem with efforts to build a stronger regional potential-based economic foundation in the next two or three years.

"Indonesia has all the solutions to the current world problems of energy and food," he said. Kalla further stressed that last year the country's economic growth reached 6.3 percent, while this year it may reach only 6 percent. In fact, the availability of infra-structure has not yet been too bad amidst rampant corruption, collusion and nepotism.

"At the same time the country is confronted with many shortages; our economic growth is still six percent. This is remarkable," he said.