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Documentation - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani. (ANTARA/Cabinet Secretariat Public Relations Documentation/pri.) - 

Economic growth in the third quarter will depend on the emergency Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM), according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

"The outlook for economic growth in the third quarter is expected to weaken, lower than the projection of 6.5 percent, as the emergency PPKM on July 3-20 will be relatively tighter, almost the same as the situation during the February-March period," Sri Mulyani noted during an online press conference here on Friday.

The minister remarked that the rate of economic growth in the third quarter will be determined by the duration of the emergency PPKM. If the restrictions only last for a fortnight and are effective in containing the number of COVID-19 cases, then the impact of restrictions on the third-quarter economic growth will be relatively limited.

"However, if the duration (of restrictions) is up to one month, then (emergency restrictions) will have a significant impact, especially on the level of consumption," she explained.

If consumption drops due to the impact of the emergency PPKM, then the decline will affect the outlook for consumption growth.

"The level of public consumption is estimated to be corrected again, and the components that are potentially affected by the decline in basic non-consumption areas are transportation, communication, recreation, and clothing," she noted.

However, Sri Mulyani expects the investment rate to be stable, as the restrictions allows construction operations on grounds that health protocols are stringently imposed. Meanwhile, exports are also expected to maintain high growth in line with the export-import performance until May 2021.

As for the second quarter, the finance minister has projected relatively good economic growth, and it is not affected by the surge in COVID-19 cases since the increase in new cases occurred in the second and third week of June. Meanwhile, the new emergency PPKM will be implemented in early July.

"We saw a slight decline in June. However, we are optimistic that the decline is not much. Hence, for the time being, we estimate the outlook for economic growth in the second quarter to lie between 7.1 to 7.5 percent," the minister remarked//ANT

Photo Archive. Civil servants undergo an examination to detect COVID-19 transmission before being allowed to enter the Bogor Regency Government office in Cibinong, Bogor Regency, West Java, on Monday (6/28/2021). (ANTARA FOTO/YULIUS SATRIA WIJAYA) - 

The Indonesian Health Ministry intends to boost tracing, examination, and handling of COVID-19 cases in areas with a high risk of transmission to contain the spread of the virus.

"We will increase testing and tracing three to four times from the current capacity, as has been done by several countries that have recorded an increase in cases," Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated as quoted in a ministry’s press release received here on Friday.

Sadikin remarked that the ministry is targeting an increase in testing, from 100 thousand per day to 400 thousand per day.

Hence, the minister has called on local governments to raise the capacity of COVID-19 inspections in their respective regions to facilitate realization of the set targets.

Sadikin expounded that tracing and examination were aimed at expediting the finding of suspected cases and people that had come in close contact with COVID-19 sufferers.

"The priority of this testing is for epidemiological purposes and not for screening testing. Hence, this testing is to really trace the suspect and his close contacts," the minister explained.

Sadikin remarked that local governments may conduct antigen examinations using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) or conduct PCR examinations to keep track of COVID-19 transmission.

"RDT Antigen is prioritized for areas where diagnostic tools are limited, so the results can be known more quickly and tests can be conducted on a massive scale, so as to speed up tracing," he remarked.

Meanwhile, in addition to intensifying the tracing of close contacts with COVID-19 sufferers, the government will ensure that those coming in close contact with COVID-19 patients undergo quarantine until they are declared free of COVID-19 in order to prevent wider transmission of the virus//ANT

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses the media n Anchorage, Alaska on Mar 19, 2021. (Photo: Frederic J. Brown/Pool via REUTERS/Files) - 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israel's new top diplomat Yair Lapid on Sunday (Jun 27), in the United States' first face-to-face meeting with the freshly installed government that seeks a less combative approach with its main ally Washington.

Lapid, a centrist who delayed his own plans to be prime minister as he masterminded a coalition to unseat veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu, is flying to Rome to see Blinken, who arrives in Italy on Sunday on a three-nation tour of Europe.

The meeting comes as President Joe Biden's administration moves ahead with fresh talks on reviving a 2015 accord with Iran - strongly opposed by Israel - in which Tehran drastically scaled back nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief.

Biden and Blinken are also eager to preserve a fragile ceasefire that took effect on May 21 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, after the worst fighting since 2014.

The bloodshed triggered some of the strongest criticism of Israel in memory in the US Congress, with some members of Biden's Democratic Party accusing Netanyahu of excessive force and of triggering the crisis by backing far-right Jewish groups that want to change the delicate status quo in the holy city of Jerusalem.

Lapid, who took office on Jun 13 under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a nationalist, has accused Netanyahu of jeopardising Israel's once rock-solid support in the United States by openly rallying behind former president Donald Trump's Republican Party.

The new coalition government still sees Iran as the major threat to Israel, and has launched its own strikes on the Gaza Strip - but has pledged to put the alliance with Washington first and to try to keep differences private.

After one of Lapid's telephone conversations with Blinken, the Israeli foreign ministry said that the two agreed on no surprises in the relationship.

Netanyahu quickly pounced, posting a video in English on social media calling the new government "so dangerous" and speaking of how he as premier would sometimes not inform the United States of pending Israeli actions.

With tensions still high after last month's violence, a motley coalition getting its bearings in Israel and political uncertainties lingering within the Palestinian Authority, the Biden administration has made clear it is not rushing to make any grand Middle East peace initiatives.

Blinken, speaking in Paris at a forum on the youth-oriented Brut network, said the immediate priority was finding ways to bring humanitarian and reconstruction aid into the densely populated and impoverished Gaza Strip.

The hope is that "there can be conditions, which do not currently exist, to allow perhaps a relaunch of the peace process and the establishment of two states, Israel and Palestine," Blinken said.

The Biden administration has hoped to be less involved in Middle East hotspots and to repair rifts created under Trump with European allies as part of a strategy to focus long-term attention on managing the rise of China.

In his three days in Italy, Blinken on Monday will see Pope Francis, the pontiff's first meeting with a high-ranking Biden administration official.

Blinken will also take part in meetings hosted by Italy of the Group of 20 major economies and of the coalition to defeat the Islamic State extremist group//CNA

People wearing face masks wait for a bus in Auckland, New Zealand, Aug 31, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Fiona Goodall) - 

New Zealand will extend the COVID-19 alert level in the capital Wellington for two days, as authorities said on Sunday (Jun 27) there is still a risk from an Australian tourist who tested positive for the coronavirus after visiting the city last weekend.

Wellington, which moved to Alert Level 2 on Wednesday, will now remain at that level until Tuesday.

New Zealand will extend the COVID-19 alert level in the capital Wellington for two days, as authorities said on Sunday (Jun 27) there is still a risk from an Australian tourist who tested positive for the coronavirus after visiting the city last weekend.

Wellington, which moved to Alert Level 2 on Wednesday, will now remain at that level until Tuesday.

The measure means social distancing rules will be in place across the city, but offices, schools and businesses may remain open.

New Zealand halted quarantine-free travel from Australia on Saturday for three days, saying there were too many cases and outbreaks.

"The three-day pause will give us time to look at whether we need to impose additional measures, as well as give us time to further understand the situation in Australia," Hipkins said//CNA