In a bid to arrest the economic slowdown, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has put two experienced technocrats into economic management posts in a cabinet reshuffle. The exercise is aimed largely to reassure investors worried about economic growth that has slipped to a six-year low, according to media reports.
The Cabinet shake-up came amid increasing public dissatisfaction with the lagging performance of Indonesia's economy since Jokowi took office nearly ten months ago. Southeast Asia's largest economy grew 4.7 per cent in the second quarter, the slowest since 2009.In a bid to arrest the economic slowdown, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has put two experienced technocrats into economic management posts in a #
Widodo has come under mounting pressure from his own party and the public to reshuffle his cabinet amid signs that efforts to reverse an economic slowdown are not working.
Darmin Nasution, who was central bank governor from 2010 to 2013 and received his doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris, was chosen to replace Sofyan Djalil as chief economic minister.
The 66-year-old pledged to tackle rising food prices and streamline import policy to shore up confidence at a time when the government has faced criticism for adopting protectionist measures.
Nasution told reporters a top priority would be to improve data accuracy when setting food policy.
Another unexpected choice was the appointment of Harvard-educated financial executive Thomas T. Lembong as trade minister. Chief executive of Quvat Management, a Singapore-based private equity firm that invests in Indonesia, Lembong previously worked at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
Lembong was a senior vice president at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency that was set up to revive the banking system after the Asian financial crisis in 1998. (SH)
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