The world is apprehensive about the various policies that Donald Trump will implement after being inaugurated as President of the United States (US) in January 2025. The same goes for the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
According to him, the Indonesian government needs to be wary of protectionist policies that are likely to be implemented in the second term of the Trump administration, which will strengthen the US dollar. This is feared to impact the weakening of the rupiah.
“We are looking again at the impact of President Donald Trump’s second term, the global economic slowdown, the world’s GDP will be lower, and global inflation will be higher, because we fear the US dollar will strengthen further, which will affect our rupiah,” said Luhut as quoted by Antara, Monday (2/12/2024).
Luhut said Indonesia needs to “play nicely” with the US. This is because he considers Trump a pragmatic leader, who will always react strongly to any policy that affects his interests.
“There are many political impacts from every policy we make, because President Trump, I understand him, is a pragmatic person. In matters concerning his interests, he will react strongly,” he said.
Then, in his speech, Luhut also highlighted the existence of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will be led by Elon Musk.
According to him, the establishment of that ministry further reflects Trump’s determination to cut unnecessary things from his administration. This change must also be continuously monitored by Indonesia.
“I see his efficiency minister, Elon Musk, whom I know well, they will definitely do that, and he will cut his budget (US) by 2 trillion US dollars. What does that mean?” “There will be a lot of efficiency,” he explained.
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