VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government is preparing additional incentives or stimuli for the industrial sector affected by Covid-19 pandemic to revive the enthusiasm of businesses and to drive the wheels of the national economy by applying the set health protocols. Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in his statement in Jakarta, Thursday (June 11) said that the additional incentives included relief payments or electricity subsidies for industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In these regards, he has sent a proposal to the State Electricity Company -PLN.

The proposal is related to eliminating the minimum cost for using 40 hours of electricity consumption, including for premium industrial customers who use 233 hours of electricity consumption. This policy is proposed for the subscription period from 1 April to 31 December 2020. It is expected that the industry can pay according to the amount of electricity usage. The amount of stimulus needed is Rp1.85 trillion over nine months. Another incentive is to postpone payment of 50 percent of PLN's bills for six months, from April to September 2020 with guaranteed installments in the form of demand deposits backwards for 12 months. It is also proposed that the late payment penalty be eliminated.

Furthermore, Minister Agus said, the government was reviewing incentives in the form of eliminating value-added tax (VAT) for local raw materials for export, postponing VAT payments for 90 days without fines, as well as temporary release of income tax installments (PPh). The granting of additional tax breaks for the industrial sector will complement other incentives previously released by the government. He has also proposed credit restructuring and working capital stimulus. This incentive will be provided with a number of criteria, such as a track record of taxes and credit installments, having good business prospects, employment, heavy impact of Covid-19, and maximizing the use of domestic raw materials. With these efforts, it is hoped that the industry will continue to grow and the national economy will continue to be maintained on a positive trend. In addition, the government seeks to encourage domestic market consumption by increasing utilization through the implementation of the Domestic Component Level both in the ministries and institutions, including the State-Owned Enterprises.