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Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has said the government is mulling the possibility of expanding the budget for the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program.

“The government is mulling the possibility of increasing the budget for the PEN program,” Amin said while giving a public lecture on the LXII Regular Education Program (PPRA) and the XXIII Short Education Program (PPSA) of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) for this year.

The additional budget for the economic recovery program is aimed at maintaining people’s purchasing power, boosting the economy, and addressing health issues, Amin said in a lecture that he delivered online from his official residence here on Tuesday.

“(The addition) is to maintain purchasing power, encourage the economy, and deal with public health. All these expenditures have not been budgeted in the ongoing State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN), and it is possible that the addition will be obtained through refocusing or reallocating government spending,” he added.

In line with efforts to increase the budget for national economic recovery, the Vice President said, the government will also continue to provide social protection assistance, pursue employment programs, and provide support to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“The social protection programs include the Family Hope Program (PKH), the Non-Cash Food Assistance Program (BPNT) or Basic Food Program, then Cash Social Assistance Program and Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) of the Village Fund Program, which have continued to be improved, while the schedule and targets are synchronized,” he elaborated. Job training or vocational education will also continue to be provided by the government through the Pre-Employment Card Program and the Intensive Work Program to reduce unemployment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amin said.

“In addition, infrastructure development in the village will also be improved and directed to empower local workers and local products. Then, the program of providing assistance for micro enterprises and credit for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will also be continued,” he said.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said the proposed additional budget for the recovery of the national economy is 225.4 trillion Indonesian rupiahs.

The addition has been proposed in the wake of emergency restrictions on community activities (PPKM) on the islands of Java and Bali, he said.

Out of the additional budget, Rp120.72 trillion is proposed to be allocated for health programs, Rp10.89 trillion for priority programs, Rp28.7 trillion for social protection, Rp15.1 trillion for business incentives, and Rp50.04 trillion for supporting MSMEs, he said.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif believes that reliable power supply is crucial for the oil and gas Rokan Block working area, as it provides 25 percent of the national oil production.

“Rokan Block, operated by Pertamina Hulu Rokan, needs 400 megawatts of electricity and 335 thousand barrels of steam per day,” Tasrif stated here on Tuesday.

Rokan Block in Riau Province plays a significant role in the national oil and gas industry, he pointed out.

Rokan Block covers an area of 6,220 square kilometers with 96 oil fields, of which three — Bekasap, Minas, and Duri — contain abundant oil reserves.

The oil reserves potential in Rokan Block is expected to reach some two billion barrels and has become a reliable source for the government to achieve its target of one million barrels of oil production in 2030. The oil and gas block will be handed over from Chevron Pasific Indonesia (CPI) to PT Pertamina Hulu Rokan, as CPI’s production-sharing contract for the Rokan Block will expire on August 9, 2021.

In a bid to ensure power supply to Rokan Block, state-run electricity firm PT PLN has acquired 100 percent of the share in the 300-megawatt-capacity power plant operated by PT Mandau Cipta Tenaga Nusantara (MCTN).

“Through the acquisition, PLN will ensure reliable power supply. Hence, it would not affect production in Rokan Block,” he remarked.

PLN will divide power supply to the Rokan Block into two stages: the transition period and permanent period.

During the transition period, the company will utilize all equipment of MCTN to supply electricity to Rokan Block for the next three years.

PLN will connect the Rokan Block power system to a permanent Sumatra regional power system.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has revised Indonesia’s third-quarter economic growth forecast downwards to a range of 3.7-4 percent following the imposition of emergency restrictions in Java and Bali.

“Third-quarter (growth) will contract, but it will remain positive, possibly in a range of 3.07-4 percent,” he said at an online press conference on Monday.

Provinces in Java and Bali contribute 60 percent to the national gross domestic product (GDP), the minister noted. Therefore, the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) will affect third-quarter economic growth, he stated.

Exports will be the main driver of the country’s third-quarter growth on account of high demand for crude palm oil, coal, rubber, and aluminum, Hartarto predicted.

Meanwhile, Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) economist Yusuf Rendy has forecast that Indonesia’s economic growth will likely dip below 4 percent in the third quarter in the wake of the emergency restrictions in Java and Bali. “Third-quarter growth will most likely be far below second-quarter growth. We predict the economy will grow 4 percent in the second quarter. The growth will be lower in the third quarter,” he said here on Monday.

The emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) will no doubt restrict public activity and consumption, which will later have an impact on the national economic performance, he observed.

“Public consumption constitutes the biggest component of the GDP (national gross domestic product). So, when it is restricted, it will more or less affect economic performance,” he elaborated. (INE)

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s economic growth is likely to dip below 4 percent in the third quarter in the wake of the emergency restrictions in Java and Bali, Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) economist Yusuf Rendy has forecast.

“Third-quarter growth will most likely be far below second-quarter growth. We predict the economy will grow 4 percent in the second quarter. The growth will be lower in the third quarter,” he said here on Monday.

The emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) will no doubt restrict public activity and consumption, which will later have an impact on the national economic performance, he observed.

“Public consumption constitutes the biggest component of the GDP (national gross domestic product). So, when it is restricted, it will more or less affect economic performance,” he elaborated. Low economic performance will also result from the higher number of COVID-19 cases in provinces which contribute significantly to national economic growth, such as Jakarta, West Java, and Central Java, he said.

“Since the economy of the provinces will be disrupted, I think the national economy will be affected accordingly,” he predicted.

Investment will also be affected by the enforcement of the emergency PPKM, he added.

Low public consumption in provinces with a higher number of COVID-19 cases will prompt companies to reduce their production capacity, he pointed out.

“That is what the government must anticipate, including preparing social assistance and other assistance that will at least alleviate the burden of the community during the emergency PPKM,” he advised. The government has estimated 3.1-3.3 percent year-on-year economic growth for the first half of 2021, based on a projected return of the economic growth rate to 7 percent in the second quarter after remaining in the negative territory over the last four quarters.

During a press conference after a plenary cabinet session in Jakarta, Monday, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati highlighted that the government still expects the gross domestic product growth in the second quarter to reach 7 percent year on year as the impact of the emergency PPKM will likely be felt in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

“In the first quarter, economic growth was recorded at minus 0.7 percent. In the second quarter, we estimate economic growth at 7 percent; so realization in the first semester of 2021 is at 3.1-3.3 percent,” she noted.

Indrawati said she believes that the impact of emergency PPKM will be felt in the third and fourth quarters of this year.

If the government’s target to reduce the COVID-19 transmission rate is effectively realized, then community activities can likely recover by August, 2021 owing to relaxation of restrictions on community mobility, she said. If that occurs, economic growth in the third quarter of 2021 could exceed 4 percent, she predicted.

“However, if the extended restrictions due to COVID-19 are high, then the third-quarter economic growth could decrease by around 4 percent. This is something to watch out for,” the former World Bank executive director cautioned. (INE)

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – At least 46 partner countries will help Indonesia collect taxes from taxpayers abroad once the bill on the amendment to the law on general provisions and taxation procedures is passed into law.

Director general of taxation at the Finance Ministry, Suryo Utomo, made the remarks at a meeting of the working committee of Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Monday.

“Right now, we have signed 13 avoidance of double taxation agreements (with other countries). So we can collect taxes from the authorities of other countries and the other way around,” he said.

Indonesia has signed avoidance of double taxation agreements with Algeria, the United States, Armenia, the Netherlands, Belfia, the Philippines, India, Laos, Egypt, Suriname, Jordan, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

Utomo said 141 countries have also signed the Mutual Administrative Assistance Convention in Tax Matter ( MAC), while 46 partner countries have agreed to assist each other in collecting taxes.

However, the rules cannot be implemented in the absence of a legal basis, he added.

Hence, through the amendment to the general provisions and taxation procedure law, the Indonesian government will include clauses in the agreements with other countries related to assistance in tax collection on a reciprocal basis, Utomo elaborated.

“Admittedly, the general provisions and taxation procedures law makes no mention of (any) clause allowing us (to collect taxes on a reciprocal basis). Because of the limitation, we have tried to propose (an amendment to) it,” he said.

He proposed the inclusion of new Article 20A in the bill, which will give the Directorate General of Taxation the authority to seek assistance from partner countries in collecting taxes.

The directorate general will also be able to ask partner countries to collect taxes on a reciprocal basis by enforcing a distress warrant, in accordance with the tax collection law, he said. (INE)

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The government intends to again raise the health budget to Rp193 trillion, from Rp182 trillion, in a bid to cater to the needs to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati stated.

Health budget in the National Economic Recovery (PEN) and COVID-19 Handling programs was initially pegged at Rp172 trillion and was thereafter increased to Rp182 trillion, Indrawati noted during a press conference after attending a plenary cabinet meeting here on Monday.

However, the surge in COVID-19 cases had compelled the government to enforce emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM) owing to which the health budget had climbed to Rp193 trillion.

“For the health sector in 2021, increases are planned for PEN and COVID-19 handling programs. We have taken the decision to increase the health ceiling budget to Rp193 trillion,” the minister stated. It is deemed necessary to increase the health budget to finance diagnostic handlings, such as testing, tracing, and treating COVID-19 patients that currently reached 236,340.

“Several movements and changes have occurred, in particular, pertaining to the rising COVID-19 cases and then the emergency PPKM enforcement, thereby necessitating the state budget to support programs in the health and social protection sectors,” Indrawati stressed.

In addition, the budget was utilized for incentives disbursed to health workers, compensation in the event of death, health equipment spending, personal protective equipment (APB), and medicines.

The minister noted that the increase in health budget will also be utilized for financing the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

“The budget, reaching as much as Rp193 trillion, will be utilized for the procurement of 53.9 million doses of vaccine and for the national health insurance (JKN) for 19.15 million citizens,” Indrawati remarked.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Vice President Ma’ruf Amin is upbeat that the sharia (Islamic) economic and finance could be a driving force of the national economic growth, especially attributed to human resources potential.

“As a Muslim majority nation, it is appropriate that the sharia economic and finance become the driving force of the national economy. Indonesia has a great potential in its development,” Ami said in his keynote speech at an online seminar entitled “Awaiting the Awakening of the Sharia Economic” here on Sunday.

For supply, Indonesia has various resources as capital for the sharia economic development.

The Vice President also said that Indonesia is a potential market in the sharia economic and finance field.

“We are a potential market for the sharia economic, including in the sectors of finance, halal food and products, Muslim fashion, Islamic social funds, sharia business, and so on,” he remarked.

By optimizing those various resources and capabilities, Indonesia can achieve the target of becoming the largest halal producer in the world as a number of non-Muslim countries have also penetrated the sharia market.

“We have to admit that we are still lagging behind in this regard, not only from Muslim majority countries, but also from non-Muslim countries such as Thailand and Brazil in exporting halal products, as well as the UK which is more advanced in developing Islamic finance,” he noted.

Therefore, four focuses of the Islamic economic and financial development that are currently being carried out by the Government must be able to accelerate the role and contribution of the Islamic economic in the national economy, according to him.

The four focuses are the development of the halal product industry, the development of the sharia finance industry, the development of sharia social funds and the development and expansion of sharia business activities.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The use of fossil energy to usher in the fourth industrial revolution, known as industry 4.0, in Indonesia increases the production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gas emissions, according to an economist cum environmentalist.

“The key to the industrial revolution is energy. Fossil fuel is the energy that boosts (the production of) carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. Coal as well as natural oil and gas that are the key to energy sources used in industrialization become dominant in Indonesia’s development,” Emil Salim, a professor of University of Indonesia (UI), stated on Friday.

The use of fossil energy in several national development projects makes Indonesia the world’s fifth-largest carbon dioxide producer, he remarked.

Salim called to swap the fossil energy-based development strategy with a renewable energy-oriented development strategy.

The UI professor noted that climate change due to the use of fossil energy leads to global warming, thereby increasing the sea levels. Consequently, several small islands will disappear in future.

“We must replace fossil fuel-based energy, such as natural oil, coal, and natural gas, (with renewable energy),” he affirmed.

The sun serves as a main source of energy to generate electricity in Indonesia, he noted.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s data indicated that non-tax state revenues from the mineral and coal sector had reached Rp22.34 trillion in the year ending May 31, 2021. The figure represents 54.5 percent of the targeted Rp39.1 trillion for 2021.

The government will continue to use coal as priority energy until 2040 through the National Energy Grand Strategy that is currently being formulated to ascertain adequate energy supplies in future.

The planned strategy accords priority to the fulfilment of domestic energy requirements and the added value of coal through gasification.

Although the green energy mix is projected to curb the percentage share of coal by up to 25 percent in 2050, the equivalent volume will increase as compared to 2025.

Source: Antara News