Day: July 2, 2021

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has decided to increase the budget allocated to the health sector to Rp185.98 trillion from Rp172.84 trillion to support the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM).

The restrictions will be implemented from July 3 to July 20, 2021 to contain a recent surge in infections.

“The handling of health issue tops the list of priorities in the PEN (national economic recovery) program involving Rp172.84 trillion (the previous health budget ceiling). Given the present developments in the fields of therapeutic and diagnostic vaccination, budget needs for the handling of health issue will increase again to Rp185.98 trillion,” Indrawati said at an online press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

The budget allocation for vaccinations has reached Rp58 trillion, while it stands at Rp69.1 trillion for treatments or therapeutics, comprising Rp40 trillion set aside for settling patient claims, Rp7.3 trillion for provision of incentives to the central government’s healthcare workers, Rp8 trillion for provision of regional performance allowances (TKD), and Rp20.5 trillion for health taxation incentives, she said.

Meanwhile, Rp4.08 trillion has been spent on testing and tracing activities, Rp35.4 trillion for handling other health problems in regions, while Rp8.49 trillion has been allocated for other activities, including communication, national health insurance coverage, and activities of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), she added.

According to the minister, the government used 99 percent, or Rp14.53 trillion, of the budget ceiling to cover COVID-1 patient claims in 2020. The funds were used to settle 200,545 patient claims at 1,575 referral hospitals across Indonesia, she said.

“If you were among the 200,545 COVID-19 patients last year who were hospitalized and discharged for free, then it was the state budget that paid your hospital bills,” Indrawati remarked.

As of June 24, 2021, the realization of payments has reached Rp10.5 trillion of the ceiling of Rp10.6 trillion, she said. The figure is projected to increase to Rp11.97 trillion in the second phase in 2021, she added.

The government has also paid Rp4.6 trillion for the provision of incentives and death compensation to healthcare workers in 2020, she informed. Since early 2021, the government has paid Rp1.34 trillion in arrears towards healthcare workers’ incentives for 2020, she added.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Bank Indonesia (BI) has said it is optimistic that credit will continue to grow in line with its previous projection of 5-7 percent for this year even amid emergency public activity restrictions (emergency PPKM).

“So far, we have not revised it yet. We still estimate that this year’s credit projection is 5-7 percent,” assistant governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) and head of the bank’s macroprudential policy department, Juda Agung, disclosed in Jakarta on Friday.

The central bank has not taken steps to revise the projected credit growth, he added.

However, he said he hoped that the implementation of the emergency PPKM would help control the spread of COVID-19.

“Hopefully, this PPKM will reduce the spread of COVID-19,” he remarked.

Credit growth this year has begun to show positive signals, especially in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) segment, where it has reached 1.7 percent, in line with the improvement in MSME business activities, Agung informed.

There has been an improvement in credit growth in the MSME sub-segment, except for micro businesses, which have still contracted 22.76 percent, while small businesses have grown 13.32 percent and medium businesses have grown 8.58 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, in the real sector, growth in corporate sales performance is improving, so it is estimated to grow positively in the second quarter of 2021, he said adding, the surge in COVID-19 cases needs to be closely watched, however, as it could affect the recovery in corporate performance.

An improvement in corporate sales has been seen in the main sectors of industry, trade, construction, and agriculture, which are expected to improve significantly in the second quarter, Agung said.

The demand for household credit has increased, as seen from the household financing demand survey, which has recorded an increase in the demand for Home Ownership Credit (KPR) and Motor Vehicle Loans (KKB), he pointed out.

“This increase in demand is in line with improving corporate sales performance and labor market conditions,” he said.

Mortgage growth s far above total credit growth, which has still contracted at 1.28 percent, which is 6.1 percent .

Mortgage growth has tracked property sales, which grew around 13 percent in the first quarter, especially for medium-sized houses.

“Medium-type houses have rebounded even more than 20 percent compared to the fourth quarter, which was still experiencing contractions,” Agung said. (INE)

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said that consumer protection plays an important role in national economic growth.

“Public consumption contributes 57 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP). Indonesia’s population is also very large, which means that the largest market potential in ASEAN (it) is important to maintain public trust and purchasing power,” he said in a statement issued on Friday.

Consumer protection would build public trust in transactions, which would have an effect on increasing consumption, including in the form of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.

In terms of economic recovery, Hartarto said, government consumption has encouraged an improvement in household consumption and investment. The improvement in domestic demand has led to an increase in production activity in the business sector, he added.

“Indicators of economic recovery have continued in May (2021) and the consumer confidence index has continued to rise to an optimistic level of 104.4, the retail sales index has experienced a positive growth of 12.9 percent (yoy), bringing the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) to its highest level of 55.3,” he noted. Furthermore, consumer protection institutions have played a central role in ensuring the fulfillment of consumer rights during the pandemic and the government has had a role in protecting consumers and encouraging goods and service business actors to provide quality, quantity, and security guarantees for goods and or services, the minister said.

“The government will continue to ensure the availability of complaint channels, complaint handling, and consumer dispute resolution,” Hartarto assured.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) Rizal E Halim has said the agency has so far provided suggestions and considerations to ministries/agencies as well as reports to President Joko Widodo.

From 2005 to 2021, the BPKN has provided 212 recommendations, he informed. Of these, 46 recommendations have received a direct response from ministries/agencies, he said. So there are still 166 recommendations that have not received a response as of June 30, 2021, he added.

“In 2021, BPKN has provided 12 recommendations and only 4 recommendations have been responded to in writing by ministries/agencies that have been accepted by BPKN,” Halim informed.

He said he hopes the acceleration of synchronization, harmonization, and policy response in the field of consumer protection under the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs can be used to build a conducive and equitable business climate.

“Consumer protection needs to be prioritized as one of the national strategic programs, both directly and indirectly, to help accelerate the national economic recovery,” Halim stressed.

Source: Antara News