Reelected SBY to prioritize economic recovery

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 07/08/2009 10:08 PM | Presidential Election

Likely president elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is leading the polls according to the results of all major quick counts, says he will prioritize efforts to pursue economic recovery in the short term.

Responding to journalists, Yudhoyono said that although Indonesia's economy was working well amid the global economic crisis, it would remain his priority to ensure it continued to do so, as the crisis was not over yet.

"We have to do more to maintain our economic momentum, in achieving positive growth this year, in controlling unemployment," Yudhoyono said Wednesday night at his private residence in Cikeas, south of Jakarta, after several quick count results indicated that he might very well have won the presidential election in a single round.

"And I have to complete the existing programs we have started five years ago when I was elected President."

The programs, Yudhoyono said, include ensuring good governance, continuing bureaucratic reform, combating corruption, and a business climate conductive to economic development.

In addition, he said he would ensure that decentralization and regional autonomy practices work well, accelerate regional development and continue with the current poverty reduction programs, which he said are "working-well".