Indonesias productive age population is increasing in line with the rise in purchasing power of urban middle-class communities.

Characterized by the increase in population of the productive age group and the rise in purchasing power of urban middle-class communities, the demographic bonus is believed to benefit the economy of Indonesia.

Chief Economist of the National Bank of Indonesia (BNI) Ryan Kiryanto has stated that the demographic bonus is estimated to be enjoyed by Indonesia during the 2020-2030 period when the number of people in the productive age between 15 and 65 years will account for about 70 percent of the population, while 30 percent of the unproductive population is below 14 years and above 65 years of age.

In addition, Kiryanto noted that Indonesia had also learnt from past experience wherein the nation had encountered economic crisis but was able to emerge from it.

According to Kiryanto, all this is believed to offer bright prospects in the years to come and to support the long-term plan of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

During the period between 2015 and 2085, President Jokowi has set a target to make Indonesia a barometer of global economic growth and to become the center of education, technology, and civilization in the world.

"It has also become the orientation of long-term infrastructure development, which has begun on a massive scale," Kiryanto remarked here on Friday.

Further, he expressed optimism that Indonesias economic growth this year would improve significantly.

"The improved economic growth this year will be fueled by Bank Indonesias (BIs) policies that appear more accommodating than in the previous two years," Kiryanto remarked during a discussion on the Potential and Challenge of Infrastructure for Economic Growth here on Friday night.

BIs policies are more accommodating, and the space of BIs rate adjustment is more open while maintaining prudence amid the high global uncertainty in the short term, he stated.

This was visible in the recent decision to cut BIs rate by 25 basis points to 7.25 percent based on the results of the meeting of BIs Board of Governors on January 13-14, 2016, he remarked.

"The announcement comes just some two hours after the bombing in Sarinah, which was only a few hundred meters from BIs building. It demonstrates that the central bank will lower the BI rate regardless of whatever happens," he pointed out.

Lower interest rates are in line with BIs decision to maintain stability in the nations economic growth, according to Kiryanto.

Kiryanto reiterated that the increase in the productive age population can benefit the economy of Indonesia.

He even claimed that China was "jealous" of the situation in Indonesia, and effective 2016, has permitted couples to bear two children as compared to its earlier mandatory policy of just one child.

"Currently, China has a high population of elderly people. On the other hand, the situation is contrary in Indonesia, which has more number of people belonging to the productive age group, and the urban middle class having a strong purchasing power," Kiryanto added.

In the meantime, Association of Young Indonesian Businessmen (Hipmi) Chairman Anggawira said recently that the demographic bonus can also lead to positive impact on on economic development and progress in the fields of agriculture and industry.

Therefore, he said the government and the younger generation must be prepared for the demographic bonus, predicted to happen when the number of people in the productive age will be higher than the elderly and children.

The demographic bonus that will occur in Indonesia is a good capital in helping the development of the creative economy sector in the country.

"The more the number of people of productive age in Indonesia, the more the number of internet users that will increase the ability and idea to create value-added products with high quality," Anggawira said.

The strength of Indonesias creative economy is more attractive as it is supported by demographic bonus and high penetration of internet users, according to him.

Furthermore, the creative economy sector is expected to be the mainstay of Indonesias sustainable sector that should be developed in the future, he added.

Earlier, Research Technology and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said he had prepared ways to optimize the demographic bonus that will happen in Indonesia.

"Demographic bonus is related to the productive age population between 15 and 45 years old whose number is higher than, of 67 percent of that of elderly people," Nasir said during his recent working visit to Cirebon, West Java.

The key to utilizing the demographic bonus is that the Ministry of Research Technology and Higher Education has a mission to build Indonesia through competitiveness, he noted.

Demographic bonus can have a positive impact on national development so long as correct economic policies are put in place, Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla has said.

The growth of population in a country may not always prove to be a burden as long as its government is able to implement a development policy, Kalla explained.

In view of that, the vice president expressed hope that the huge population of Indonesia should become a factor in pushing for national development.

"We must turn the 255 million population of the country into a workforce with high productivity, and at the same time, consumers. It all depends upon how we can manage the population to make it an asset rather than a liability," Kalla remarked

Source: ANTARA