Day: August 30, 2021

Bank Indonesia (BI) has continued to encourage digital finance development, which it considers one of the transformation pillars of the national economic structure, Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Rosmaya Hadi has said.

The central bank’s commitment to continue to support digital economic and financial integration is being realized through the Indonesian Payment System Blueprint for 2025, Hadi informed at the JaKreatif Fest (Jakarta Creative Festival) 2021 here on Monday.

“Through this blueprint, it is expected that an integrated digital payment ecosystem will be established,” the deputy governor said.

The interoperability, access expansion, and multi-instruments that will emerge through the blueprint will make transactions convenient for the public, she explained.

The blueprint envisages basic infrastructure for new economic sources that optimize digital processes, she added.

“It will also increase national efficiency and economic growth, and eventually financial inclusion,” Hadi continued. Furthermore, Bank Indonesia has launched the National Standard Open API Payment (SNAP), Hadi said.

SNAP has been created to build a healthy, competitive, and innovative payment system industry, so as to facilitate efficient, secure, and reliable payment services to the public, she explained.

The existence of SNAP will unite, integrate, and connect various payment system steps and services that are performed for the advancement of the Indonesian economy, Hadi informed.

“Bank Indonesia has continued to push digitalization of retail payment systems through the use of QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard),” she noted.

According to Hadi, the current number of QRIS user accounts is close to 9 million, dominated by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“In 2021, BI targets that the use of QRIS will reach 12 million merchants,” the deputy governor said.

Meanwhile, BI Governor Perry Warjiyo has said he is optimistic the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), or digital rupiah, will be able to increase national economic efficiency.

“We will circulate the digital rupiah through digital blockchain technology and distributed ledger technology (DLT) so it will really be efficient,” Warjiyo said earlier while announcing the outcome of the monthly meeting of the central bank’s board of governors here.

Banks connected to the DLT system, in the context of digital rupiah wholesale, will also feel the efficiency while making transactions in the money market since they will not incur a transaction fee, he added.

The digital rupiah will also make retail trade efficient since it would lower transaction costs, Warjiyo said.

Source: Antara News

The government has spent Rp340.84 trillion on the national economic recovery program, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and chief of the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee (KPC-PEN), Airlangga Hartarto, has said.

“The realization of the national economic recovery program has reached 45.8 percent, or Rp340.84 trillion,” he said at an online press conference here on Monday

The realization of the national economic recovery program for the health sector has reached 34 percent, or Rp80 trillion; social protection 55 percent, or Rp102.69 trillion; micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs 29 percent, or Rp48 trillion; priority programs 44 percent, or Rp52.3 trillion; and business incentive program 50.3 percent, or Rp56.7 trillion, he informed.

He said the government has distributed 10 kilograms of rice each to 28.8 million families across Indonesia as of August 30, 2021.

“Non-cash food assistance (BPNT) for non-Family Hope Program has been 100 percent channeled to 8.8 million people,” he informed.

In addition, the government has also disbursed a wage subsidy of Rp1 million for each of 2.09 million workers, he added.

“The realization of Presidential assistance for micro businesses has reached 90.52 percent, or Rp14.2 trillion, for 11.84 micro business agents,” he said.

He further said President Joko Widodo has also noted progress in the handling of COVID-19 cases in Java and Bali as reflected by a decline in the number of agglomeration areas whose public activity restriction (PPKM) level has been downgraded.

“The government has declared the PPKM level for Greater Malang and Greater Solo has been downgraded to 3 from 4 as of August 31, 2021, so that the regions implementing level 3 PPKM in Java and Bali this week include Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi), Greater Bandung, Greater Surabaya, Greater Malang, and Greater Solo,” he added.

According to the President, the number of districts and cities in Java and Bali implementing level 4 PPKM has declined to 25 from 51, the number of districts and cities implementing level 3 PPKM has increased to 76 from 67, and the number of districts and cities implementing level 2 PPKM has risen to 27 from 10. Meanwhile, the number of provinces outside Java and Bali implementing level 4 PPKM has also declined to four from seven earlier.

Source: Antara News

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin on Monday summoned Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian to discuss draft government regulations for Papua’s special autonomy law.

At the meeting, Karnavian reported on developments in the formulation of two government regulations pertaining to institution and financial governance for Papua’s special autonomy, vice presidential spokesperson Masduki Baidlowi said in a written statement released on Monday.

According to Karnavian, the two draft government regulations must be endorsed no later than October 19, 2021 or three months of the enactment of Law No. 2/2021 concerning the second round of amendment to Law No. 21/2001 concerning special autonomy for Papua province, Baidlowi said.

“The newly-enacted special autonomy law needs government regulations to implement it. The deadline for the endorsement of the government regulations is three months after the enactment of the law,” he added. The home affairs minister has submitted the draft government regulations, which involve 33 ministries and non-ministerial government institutions, to the vice president, he informed. The draft government regulations also cover the planned proliferation of Papua province, he added.

“The home affairs minister has submitted all the draft government regulations to the vice president, including the planned proliferation of Papua province which constitutes the aspiration of Papua people,” Baidlowi said. At Monday’s meeting, the vice president highlighted the effort to drastically reduce the poverty rate in Papua province, which has become the target of the government’s programs, he added.

Papua is among the seven Indonesian provinces targeted under the government’s program to tackle extreme poverty in 2021, he said.

“The vice president asked the home affairs minister to map extreme poverty in Papua and West Papua soon through coordination with the Papua and West Papua provincial governments,” he added.

Source: Antara News

Carbon tax will be implemented at the right time with payment slabs that would not burden entrepreneurs, Finance Ministry’s special staff for strategic communication Yustimus Prastowo has assured.

“Certain sectors that have large contributions and quite ready to be imposed with carbon tax will be chosen. There will also be non-fiscal incentive to provide stronger support for investment and economic transformation,” he said during a webinar on carbon tax here on Monday.

According to Prastowo, the government has invited various stakeholders, such as entrepreneur associations, academicians, and environmental activists to formulate a fair carbon tax.

“There is still enough time for us to discuss it, and for the government, the House of Representatives, entrepreneurs, and activists to provide their input so that the carbon tax policy is designed holistically and comprehensively,” he stated.

The government is mapping various fees designed to reduce carbon emissions, including the Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) and regional tax, he informed.

This stipulation will be integrated so there is no overlapping implementation in the future, he said.

“This is the importance of formulating an effective carbon tax that fulfills its goal, while also not being a burden with multiple taxes,” Prastowo explained.

The suggestion on carbon tax within the Tax Bill (RUU KUP) is expected to become the new chapter for mainstreaming the green economy, he remarked.

Within the tax bill, the government plans to impose a tariff of Rp75 per kilogram of carbon dioxide equivalent, he informed.

This carbon tax tariff will be calculated based on the price of carbon trade from the ‘Result Based Payment REDD +’ or the ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation’ event in 2020, he said.

The carbon tax is designed to not only provide revenue, but also fulfill Indonesia’s commitment within the Paris Agreement, especially regarding the reduction of carbon emissions, he added.

Source: Antara News