Jakarta, Sept. 10 -- Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that the protest at the end of August was triggered by prolonged economic pressures burdening the public.

Speaking after a meeting with the House of Representatives, Sadewa said the protest could have been avoided if fiscal and monetary policies had worked optimally to support economic activity.

He noted that government spending has been very slow and that the state budget funds stored in Bank Indonesia (BI) have not been utilized. According to him, this caused liquidity in the economy to become stuck in an undesirable situation.

"Since 2020, funds have been continuously drawn down until growth fell to zero by the end of 2024. What people felt was an economic slowdown, d...