Bahlil Relieved RI Has No Debt to IMF Thanks to SBY
The Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia is relieved that Indonesia has been free from debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This debt was paid off in October 2006 during the leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
"We have to thank the government before Pak Jokowi, namely during Pak SBY's era. It managed to settle our debt to the IMF," said Bahlil, in a press conference at the Office of the Ministry of Investment/BKPM, Jakarta, Friday (30/6/2023).
Bahlil said that being indebted to the IMF was like being indebted to loan sharks. In this case, he considered that there were many economic policy packages that were not in accordance with Indonesia.
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"According to their study, they also say that this is like loan-sharking. So there are many economic policy packages from the IMF that are not suitable for our country," he said.
In addition, Indonesia also has a long history with the IMF. Bahlil also said that when the monetary crisis hit in 1998, the IMF recommended a number of policies that had a huge impact on the slowdown in Indonesia's economic growth.
"First, our industry is closed. For example aerospace. Social assistance is closed. This means that people's purchasing power is weak there. The forerunners of deindustrialization," he said.
But in fact, all these policies failed miserably. As a result, interest rates on credit also rose. Then, almost all businesses collapsed. Credits were bad and assets were taken. This condition makes Indonesia appear to be a misdiagnosed patient.
"What happened? Our country is slowing down towards economic growth. In the same year, Malaysia rejected the IMF's recommendation," he added.
As if to remind Bahlil of that old story, now the IMF has just stated a request that Indonesia not extend its downstream policy by banning the export of raw mineral materials. In this case, Bahlil clearly refused the request.
"He has made us patients who have failed to diagnose. Are we going to follow the doctor who has taken us to the inpatient room, he puts us in the ICU room? Like a sick person, he shouldn't have a total operation, then the total operation continues to fail," he said.
On the other hand, the IMF itself has also stated that Indonesia's economic condition is in good condition. Therefore, the demand regarding exports is a big question mark. He also suspected that the IMF was carrying out a double standard considering that other countries were allowed to do the same thing, while only Indonesia was not allowed to take this step.
In line with this, Bahlil also emphasized that he would not follow the request made by the IMF to stop exports of other mineral raw materials.
"Even if the sky is about to fall, downstream will still be a priority for the country in the administration of Joko Widodo and Kiyai Ma'ruf Amin. Second, we will still ban exports. If you want to sue us to the WTO, just WTO. Can other people (stop reporting) ), We do not? The truth is, this country is already independent," he said.
As additional information, the Special Staff of the Minister of Finance for Strategic Communications, Yustinus Prastowo, also mentioned the matter of paying off the debt. He said Indonesia was not included in the list of patients or countries lining up to ask for IMF assistance.
"The government no longer owes the IMF. The repayment was in the era of Pak SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono)," Yustinus told detikcom, in October 2022.
It's just that, based on the Foreign Debt Statistics (SULNI), Indonesia's debt to the IMF is still US$ 8.47 billion as of July 2022. Yustinus said this was Bank Indonesia's (BI) foreign debt in its capacity as a member of the IMF to jointly strengthen global monetary.
Unlike debt in general, Yustinus said that the funds had no repayment period. BI is not limited in time to return the funds to the IMF.
Bahlil Lega RI Tak Punya Utang ke IMF Berkat SBY
Menteri Investasi/Kepala Badan Koordinasi Penanaman Modal (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia merasa lega lantaran Indonesia telah terbebas dari utang kepada Dana Moneter Internasional (International Monetary Fund/IMF). Utang ini pun dilunasi pada Oktober 2006 saat masa kepemimpinan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).
"Kita harus berterima kasih pada pemerintahan sebelum Pak Jokowi, yaitu di jamannya Pak SBY. Itu berhasil menyelesaikan utang kita ke IMF," kata Bahlil, dalam konferensi pers di Kantor Kementerian Investasi/BKPM, Jakarta, Jumat (30/6/2023).
Bahlil mengatakan, berutang kepada IMF sudah seperti berutang kepada lintah darat. Dalam hal ini, ia menilai banyak paket kebijakan ekonomi yang tidak sesuai dengan Indonesia.
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"Menurut kajian mereka juga mengatakan, ini kayak lintah darat ibaratnya. Jadi banyak paket kebijakan ekonomi dari IMF yang tak cocok dengan negara kita," ujarnya.
Selain itu, Indonesia juga memiliki sejarah panjang dengan IMF. Bahlil pun bercerita, pada masa krisis moneter melanda di tahun 1998, IMF merekomendasikan sejumlah kebijakan yang membawa dampak sangat besar terhadap perlambatan pertumbuhan ekonomi RI.
"Pertama, industri kita ditutup. Contoh dirgantara. Bansos-bansos ditutup. Artinya, daya beli masyarakat lemah di situ. Cikal-bakal deindustrialisasi," ujarnya.
Namun nyatanya, semua kebijakan tersebut gagal total. Akibatnya, bunga kredit pun terkerek naik. Kemudian, hampir seluruh pengusaha kolaps. Kredit-kredit pun macet dan aset-aset pun diambil. Kondisi ini membuat Indonesia seolah menjadi pasien salah diagnosa.
"Apa yang terjadi? Negara kita melambat menuju pertumbuhan ekonomi. Di tahun yang sama, Malaysia menolak rekomendasi IMF," imbuhnya.
Seolah mengingatkan Bahlil dengam cerita lama itu, kini IMF baru saja menyatakan permintaan agar Indonesia tak memperluas kebijakan hilirisasi dengan larangan ekspor bahan mineral mentah. Dalam hal ini, jelas Bahlil menolak permintaan tersebut.
"Dia sudah pernah menjadikan kita pasien yang gagal diagnosa. Apakah kita akan mengikuti dokter yang sudah membawa kita ke ruang rawat inap, dia masukan kita ke ruang ICU? Ibarat orang sakit harusnya nggak operasi total, kemudian operasi total terus gagal," ujarnya.
Di sisi lain, IMF sendiri juga telah menyatakan kondisi ekonomi RI dalam keadaan baik. Karenanya, permintaan menyangkut ekspor ini menuai tanda tanya besar. Ia juga curiga, IMF melakukan standar ganda mengingat negara-negara lain boleh melakukan hal serupa, sementara hanya Indonesia yang tak boleh melakukan langkah tersebut.
Selaras dengan hal ini pula, Bahlil pun menegaskan, tidak akan mengikuti permintaan yang dilayangkan oleh IMF untuk berhenti menyetop ekspor bahan-bahan baku mentah mineral lainnya.
"Langit mau runtuh pun, hilirisasi tetap akan jadi prioritas negara dalam pemerintahan Joko Widodo dan Kiyai Ma'ruf Amin. Yang kedua, larangak ekspor tetap akan kita lakukan. Kalau mau gugat kita ke WTO, WTO aja. Masa orang lain boleh (setop ekapor), kita tidak? Yang bener aja, negara ini sudah merdeka," ujarnya.
Sebagai tambahan informasi, sebelumnya perihal pelunasan utang ink sempat disinggung juga oleh Staf Khusus Menteri Keuangan Bidang Komunikasi Strategis, Yustinus Prastowo. Ia mengatakan, Indonesia tidak termasuk pasien atau daftar negara yang antre untuk meminta pertolongan IMF.
"Pemerintah tidak berutang lagi ke IMF. Pelunasan pada era Pak SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono)," kata Yustinus kepada detikcom, pada Oktober 2022 silam.
Hanya saja, berdasarkan Statistik Utang Luar Negeri (SULNI) utang Indonesia ke IMF masih ada US$ 8,47 miliar per Juli 2022. Yustinus menyebut itu merupakan utang luar negeri Bank Indonesia (BI) dalam kapasitas sebagai anggota IMF untuk bersama memperkuat moneter global.
Berbeda dengan utang pada umumnya, Yustinus menyebut dana itu tidak memiliki jangka waktu pengembalian. BI tidak dibatasi waktunya untuk mengembalikan dana tersebut kepada IMF.