Jakarta (ANTARA) - The policy on foreign exchange from exports must be optimized to drive economic development, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs has said.
"This is what serves as the key, on how we can optimize the policy on foreign exchange from exports for, the first is stability; the second, of course, in the context of growth, financial sector focus, financial market focus. What's next is what is to be done after it has been registered in the bank," Acting Deputy for Macroeconomic and Financial Coordination at the ministry Ferry Irawan said.
He delivered the statement during the "Gambir Trade Talk #10," which discussed 'Export's Foreign Exchange as Instrument of National Economic Growth,' and was accessed online on Wednesday.
Irawan outlined three strategies for mitigating external risks, such as the global economic slowdown.
The first strategy is to form an export task force that can draw up strategic policies to improve aspects of exports, such as supply, diversification, financing, international collaboration, and the development of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), he informed.
It is expected that the foreign exchange will stay for a long time in the banks, giving the banks the capacity to distribute it to the people in the real sector, and thereby, push economic growth, he said.
The second strategy is to revise Government Regulation Number 1 of 2019 about foreign exchange from exports from natural resources management and processing, Irawan stated.
This could help ensure that the foreign exchange can flow into the national financial market and be utilized for national development, he explained.
The ministry has claimed that since the beginning, the plan for revising the regulation has had positive effects on the market, as seen by the exchange rate, he noted.
The final strategy is to expedite local currency settlement (LCS) implementation, which could reduce dependence on certain currencies, support bilateral transactions, and improve resilience in the external sector, he said.
"So, these are the three things which we are pushing in the government to mitigate the current slowdown, while concurrently optimizing all the opportunities," Irawan added.
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