VIVAnews - Nationalization of assets by the government may accommodate the State Budget in handling high financing needs post financial crisis, said Ninasapti Triaswati, member of Social and Technical Commission on Humanity at the National Research Council at the "2009 Economic Outlook" seminar at Century Senayan Hotel, today, Nov 26.
Whether or not Indonesia would be able to stimulate the domestic economy is being questioned, he said. The reason for this is that the export market is slowing down and various companies have laid off their employees.
According to Ninasapti, there are two choices: first, financing from debts (state bonds and foreign loans); second, not proposing any loans.
At this time, Ninasapti went on to say, the Indonesian government tends to restrain from foreign loans. In fact, privatization is not a choice due to the worsening capital market. "On the contrary, this is the perfect time, should the government want to nationalize private assets and buy when share prices are down," said Ninasapti.
However, Ninasapti acknowledged that the decision to nationalize must be be made for investment purposes, not to assist certain groups.
"But we are way behind [George] Soros, who has purchased PT Bumi Resources Tbk shares. And the share price is not up," she said.
The decision to nationalize, according to her, has not been included in any government's plan or program.
In addition, to save the balance of payments, she said, Indonesia can only depend on domestic consumption and government expenditure. "Domestic investment can still be established by people's savings. China applies it, and the country is capable of providing stimulus amounting to US$580 billion," Ninasapti emphasized.
Translated by: Bonardo Maulana Wahono
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