VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said countries across the world have spent more than US$11 trillion from their budgets to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The world has allocated more than US$11 trillion. All countries use their resources to protect their people," she remarked at an online discussion, which she joined from Jakarta on Tuesday.

No country has been spared the threat of COVID-19 because of the virus' dynamic nature that allows it to continue to mutate and transmit, causing the infection rate to rise, the minister noted.

The impact of the pandemic, which has had an adverse effect on the social, economic, and health sectors, has forced all countries to use their resources to protect their people, she said.

In the health sector, several efforts have been made to break the transmission chain, since a problem affecting the health sector itself can have devastating implications on the social, economic, and political sectors, she added.

"People cannot do their usual activities. Mobility and interactions are all limited. This must have hit a country's social and economic sectors," the minister remarked.

Therefore, all countries in the world are using all their instruments, resources, as well as fiscal and monetary policies to deal with the impact of the pandemic, she said.

"US$11 trillion has been spent around the world fiscally, in widening deficits, and in monetary easing policy that all aim to deal with the pandemic," the minister observed.

For instance, such synergy in Indonesia has been implemented through a combination of fiscal and monetary policies to protect the people, the business world, and the country's economy to help them survive and recover, she noted.

Last year, the Indonesian government allocated a budget of Rp695.2 trillion for the National Economic Recovery Program (PEN), which absorbed 83.4 percent of the cap, or Rp579.78 trillion, Indrawati said.

Meanwhile, this year, the PEN budget allocation reached Rp744.75 trillion, she said adding, as of July 16, the budget realization has reached 37.2 percent, or Rp277.36 trillion. (Antaranews)