The Rise of the Batang Hari Economy

The Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the world since the beginning of 2020 has not only ravaged the world economy, but also destroyed most of the Indonesian economy, including the economy of Batang Hari Regency. This can be seen from the economic growth of Batang Hari Regency which experienced a contraction of 0.37 percent. Almost all business fields have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, ranging from the mining and quarrying business field, the processing industry, to the trade sector. Various steps have been taken by the Batang Hari Regency Government in an effort to reduce the impact of Covid-19, including the provision of vaccines to the people of Batang Hari Regency, starting from the administration of phase I, phase II and booster doses. In addition, the Batang Hari Regency Government also provided Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) aimed at people affected by Covid-19. In 2021, the economy of Batang Hari Regency will begin to show signs of recovery, with Batang Hari Regency's economic growth in 2021 reaching 4.74 percent. The economic growth of Batang Hari Regency in 2021 even exceeds the economic growth of Jambi Province which only reached 3.66 percent. The three business fields that contributed to the largest economic growth came from the trading and quarrying business field of 19.04 percent, most of which came from the coal sector.

Then successively followed by the health services business and social activities by 10.97 percent and the transportation and warehousing business field by 5.56 percent. Judging from its contribution, the economy of Batang Hari Regency is still dominated by agriculture, forestry and fishery business fields with a contribution of 43.33 percent, followed by processing industry business fields at 10.83 percent and mining and quarrying business fields at 10.18 percent. The agricultural, forestry and fisheries business fields are the largest contributors to the economy of Batang Hari Regency considering that it includes the plantation sector which is the largest sector cultivated by the people of Batang Hari Regency. Although still faced with various risks, especially from the spread of the Omicron and Delta variants of Covid-19 cases, the relatively high economic growth rate of Batang Hari Regency is expected to continue to rise in the years to come. Future prospects also take into account the development of commodity prices, both energy and non-energy. The increase in the price of plantation commodities, especially oil palm, which had fallen recently, was able to return to stability so that it could further increase economic growth from the agricultural sector in particular and economic growth in general.