VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 2 -  The Indonesian government will continue to step up the realization of state expenditure in order to boost economic growth in the second quarter of 2021, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has said.

“We hope there will be further (economic) recovery. We have expedited (the realization) of state expenditure, including through the social protection and economic recovery programs,” Hartarto said during an online discussion here on Tuesday.

The government has allocated a budget of Rp699.43 trillion (US$48.94 billion) under the national economic recovery program (PEN), he noted.

The budget for PEN would focus on five sectors. Of the total budget, Rp176.3 trillion (US$12.34 billion) has been allocated for the health sector, Rp157.41 trillion (US$11.01 billion) for social protection, Rp125.06 trillion (US$8.75 billion) for priority programs, Rp53.86 trillion (US$3.77 billion) for business incentive, and Rp186.81 trillion (US$13.07 billion) for support for micro, small, and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) and corporate funding, he added.

"We are also encouraging people to buy domestic as well as MSME products," he stated.

Hartarto assured the government would balance efforts taken for economic recovery and COVID-19 handling as the two issues are closely related.

COVID-19 handling will improve public confidence and thereby help increase consumption, which will, in turn, boost the economy, he explained.

"We have to keep the balance between pandemic handling and the economic recovery program. The government will focus on efforts to recover consumers' confidence by accelerating the vaccination program," the minister said.

The government is targeting to inoculate 182 million people out of the total population of 270 million under its vaccination program.

"We want to reach the 70-percent vaccination target to achieve herd immunity. We have to apply stringent health protocols," Hartarto said. (Antaranews)