President Orders New Chief Economic Minister To Accelerate Budget Spending

The new officials of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Nasution (left) and the old officials Djalil (right) sign the handover ceremony at the Office of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Jakarta.(ANTARA FOTO/Sigid Kurniawan)

Jakarta (Antara Bali) -- President Joko Widodo has ordered the newly-installed coordinating minister for economic affairs, Darmin Nasution, to expedite the process of budget spending.

After being sworn in as the chief economic minister to replace Sofyan Djalil, Nasution said that the president had specially ordered him to push for budget disbursement to ensure the acceleration of spending.

"The president also emphasized the importance of boosting investment and inflow of capital, in view of the current exchange rate issue. There must be capital coming into the country. These are the issues that need to be discussed soon," he stated.

Nasution, who was inducted by President Joko Widodo at the State Palace here on Wednesday, admitted that there were certain problems he had to tackle to follow the president's orders.

The former central bank governor pointed out that he had also been instructed to discuss and review food-related issues, including data on drought and coordination.

However, Nasution declined to comment on economic growth, stating, "I will speak about it there (in the office)." (WDY)