REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Association of Indonesian Businessmen (Apindo) has urged the government to mobilize the real estate sector to overcome the current economic slowdown and prevent the economy from sliding further.
"We think what we must do is to make the real sector move fast and also ensure that export oriented industries are developed further," the general chairman of Apindo, Hariyadi B Sukamdani, said here on Tuesday.
He said the massive public funds lying with the banks and incorporated in the national budget could be used to simulate this sector.
He said while Apindo had earlier agreed to maintain the BI Rate, it has now agreed it to be lowered.
"We must have the courage to move the real estate sector, including in terms of monetary policy," he said.
Regarding the current exchange rate of Rupiah against the US dollar, and the fact that it was continuing to depreciate and is now close to Rp15,000, he said the situation was indeed burdensome.
"This has increased the cost of living while the public's buying power was not rising," he said.
He said all parties must be feeling the impact of the rupiah exchange rate but they must think of ways to use the funds in banks and in the national budget to move the real estate sector.
On the government's package of economic policies, Hariyadi said all the policies were in essence positive but what was more important was their effective implementation.
Regarding layoffs, he said based on the Manpower Ministry's data, until September 28 this year, 724,000 workers have already been disbursed their retirement funds.
"Between September 1 and September 28, 2015, 210,000 workers had been disbursed their JHT funds and 27,000 had resigned," he said.
He said he feared that this would send a negative signal to the market. He said the payment of claims has reached Rp8.3 trillion.
"When people withdraw JHT, it means they were no more working. If the JHT funds are withdrawn continuously, it could cause problems for the banks," he said.
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