Member of the Presidential Advisory Council, Soekarwo, said it was necessary to protect the poor and vulnerable to the poor in the face of the projected global crisis and uncertainty. “Social protection is needed for the poor, whose number is 26.16 million and the number of vulnerable poor is very large,” said Pakde Karwo, while giving his views at the 2022 National Gathering of the National Components of the Indonesian Armed Forces which was held by the Indonesian Army Territorial Center (Pusterad) in Jakarta, Wednesday (24/8/2022).
Pakde Karwo, Soekarwo’s nickname, reminded that economic fundamentals must be strictly maintained. Bank Indonesia must be able to keep the benchmark interest rate below 4.5 percent in order to be able to maintain economic stability and strengthen the acceleration of economic recovery. Regarding the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, Pakde Karwo suggested that the loan interest rate should be lower than the people’s business credit (KUR) or less than 6 percent. “The MSME sector and people’s businesses must really be protected,” he said.
The national gathering with the theme “Strong Economy Facing All Forms of Threats” was opened by the Commander of the Army Territorial Center (Danpusterad) Teguh Arief by beating the gong accompanied by Pakde Karwo and a member of the DPR, TB Hasanudin.
The speakers in the national friendship dialogue were former Minister of Defense, Purnomo Yusgiantoro and an economic observer who is also former Minister of Finance M. Chatib Basri. Present at the event were former PBNU Chairman Said Aqil Siradj, a number of retired TNI generals, Pusterad officials and TNI territorial ranks.
