Bandung City Government Optimistic to Face the 2023 Recession

The condition of Bandung City in September 2022 there was an inflation of 0.91 percent with a Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 112.85. In West Java, inflation was 1.21 percent, while the national inflation was 1.17 percent.

However, Bandung City's inflation rate is still below the West Java Province and National inflation rate.

According to the Regional Secretary (Sekda) of the City of Bandung, Ema Sumarna, the economic growth of the City of Bandung in 2021 has increased compared to economic growth in 2020.

In 2021 the economy will grow by 3.76 percent, while in 2020 the city's economic growth will contract by -2.28 percent.

The improvement in economic growth is because the Bandung City Government has succeeded in achieving the vaccination target of exceeding 100 percent. So that the Covid-19 pandemic in the city of Bandung can be controlled.

"Recession is clearly not a favorable condition for the economy. When an economic recession occurs, almost all types of businesses, both large and small, will be affected," said Ema in the Recession Prediction Discussion at Bandung City Hall, Wednesday, October 12, 2022.

This can be exacerbated by increasingly tight credit conditions, so that requests or submissions of applications decrease or become slower. These conditions create worry, uncertainty and general fear.

"The economic recession will not only affect the government, but also companies and individual lives. Companies can go bankrupt, many will be laid off, so the number of unemployed will increase," he said.

Therefore, according to him, the budget for priority programs and activities from all development sectors must also be linked to efforts to reduce poverty, open unemployment, and income inequality.

Several steps to anticipate the economic recession include maximizing government spending, providing assistance/stimulus for MSMEs, and providing convenience in licensing services for investment.

"The Bandung City Government has also compiled a program of activities that support inflation control, by relying on income through services. We must also prioritize increasing the use of domestic products (P3DN)," he admitted.

In this discussion, the Executive Director of Indef (Insitute for Development of Economics and Finance), Tauhid Ahmad was also present. He stated that the regional economy will experience a decline, but not as badly as at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021.

"It will not be as bad as the beginning of the pandemic, but there will still be a decrease compared to this year," said Tauhid.

According to him, the sectors that will be most affected are exports and household consumption.

"In terms of exports, it fell to 8 percent. Investment fell 6.1 percent, and household consumption decreased by 5 percent," he explained.

He hopes that the Bandung City Government can increase government consumption. One of them is by managing volatile food to overcome inflation. (din)**

Head of the Bandung City Communication and Information Technology

Yayan A. Brilyana