REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Vice Presidential Candidate Sandiaga Uno said Indonesia is able to achieve an economic independence. It has an abundance of natural resources and workforce with potential demographic bonus in 2020, as well as a big market, he said.

"I believe that Indonesia may become self sufficient in economy by boosting national production and restricting imports of materials that can be produced in the country," he told representatives of community members of Wonosobo District, Central Java, on Monday.

Despite its huge potential to become self-sufficient in economy, Sandiaga, running mate of Chief Patron of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) Prabowo Subianto for next year's presidential race, said he was sad to see Indonesia's economic condition.

"I am so sad to see our economic condition. Why it has yet to be able to make our people prosperous? Instead, our economy is getting harder with debt burdens," he told the attendants of the gathering, mostly married women and millennials.

However, with God's willing, Indonesia's debt burdens would gradually be paid off if the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair led the country, he said. Indonesia's dependence on foreign countries would also be reduced for creating a self-sufficient, just, and prosperous Indonesia for all Indonesians, said this former deputy governor of Jakarta.

In connection with Indonesia's external debt, a recent statement from Bank Indonesia revealed that it grew at 4.8 percent (year-on-year), slower than the previous month's growth of 5.5 percent (year-on-year). Indonesia's external debt at the end of July 2018 amounted to US$358.0 billion, consisting of government and central bank external debt of $180.8 billion, as well as private sector, including state-owned enterprises, external debt of $177.1 billion.

The slowdown in external debt growth is mainly due to lower growth of government's external debt compared to the previous period, according to the central bank's statement. The government's external debt at the end of July 2018 grew 4.1 percent year-on-year, slower than the previous month's growth of 6.1 percent (year-on-year).

The government's external debt at the end of July 2018 amounted to $177.4 billion, slightly higher compared to the previous month's position due to net withdrawals of loans, particularly multilateral loans, and net purchases of domestic government securities (SBN) by foreign investors during July 2018.

The Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno is challenged by incumbent President Joko Widodo and his running mate, KH Ma'ruf Amin, in the 2019 presidential election.

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