Indonesia: Regional Elections Will Not Have Significant Impact on Economy

• Feb 13, 2017

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Hundreds of regional elections will be held simultaneously in Jakarta and other regions on Wednesday, February 15, 2017. Expert says that the elections, particularly that of Jakarta, would not have a significant impact on the economy. “Jakarta gubernatorial election’s impact on the economy [will be] limited,” SKHA Institute for Global Competitiveness chief economist Eric Sugandi told Tempo on Monday, February 13, 2017. Eric noted that regional elections are expected to boost consumption expenditure of non-profit institutions serving households, which would not have a notable impact on the national economy. The impact on the financial market would be limited as well, provided that political and security conditions remain under control. “I can see a decoupling between political dynamics and the financial market movements,” Eric said. He added that the regional elections will have a short term impact, if any, on the economy. Eric said that both investors and business players harbor some expectations from new leaderships after the regional elections, especially in Jakarta, the countries’ economic center. The expectations include economic stability and infrastructure support. “However, ideally, infrastructure development is carried out without causing political turmoil that could adversely affect businesses,” he said. Jakarta election is participated by three gubernatorial candidate pairs: candidate pair number 1 Agus Harumurti Yudhoyono and Sylviana Murni, candidate pair number 2 Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and candidate pair number 3 Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Salahudin Uno.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2017/02/13/056845958/Regional-Elections-Will-Not-Have-Significant-Impact-on-Economy