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VIVAnews - Today marks the launching of VIVA and VIVAnews. After a press conference, and prior to the official launching of VIVA and VIVAnews, Vice President Jusuf Kalla guest starred in a Talk Show, hosted by Tina Talisa of TVOne. The show was simultaneously covered by ANTV, TvOne and VIVAnews.
The topic of the discussion was "Indonesian Economic Outlook in 2009." The event was also attended by Aviliani, an analyst from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance and MS Hidayat, head of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.
Aviliani believes that the financial crisis has caused absorption power to decrease. As a result, businesses may fall because demands are declining. Fiscal incentive is required to boost the economy.
In response, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government should grant fiscal incentive to skyrocket the real sector of the economy. "However, the ones that need to be given incentive are the consumers, not the producers. Consumers' domestic purchasing power must be increased," Kalla said.
The government will also disburse funds for for infrastructure projects. "There is indeed a threat of unemployment," said Kalla. Which is why, he said, the government are taking steps that are aimed at supressing job losses.
MS Hidayat, agrees with the government's measure in disbursing funds for infrustructure projects.
Another issue that was discussed was housing. Accordingn to Kalla, the government has taken certain policies. "All unoccupied lands belonging to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be used to build subsidized apartments. The land plots will be bought at Rp 1 million (approx. US$90) per square meter," he said.
Meanwhile, responding to the different opinions with regard to the rate of economic growth, Kalla said that this was because each person bases their forecast on their own assumptions. “Not based on data,” he said.
