VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati echoed the Islamic Development Bank's (IsDB's) readiness to furnish emergency funds worth US$200-250 million to overcome the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

"The COVID-19 emergency fund from IsDB during the negotiation process ranged from US$200 million to US$250 million," Indrawati stated on the Instagram page monitored here on Monday.

The minister noted that this was one of the outcomes of virtual discussions with IsDB President Bandar Hajjar pertaining to the government's steps in the fields of health, social assistance, and business incentives.

On the occasion, he ensured that IsDB will offer joint support along with other multilateral financial institutions, including the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

"IsDB has launched the 3R program (Response, Restore, Restart)," Indrawati remarked.

The government had earlier ensured that it would rely on loans from multilateral institutions to support the financing of various stimulus programs. (ANTARA))

However, funding from multilateral institutions is not an urgent step to be utilized for handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The most crucial step taken by the government is to conduct several reallocations or refocus on non-urgent State Budget (APBN) spending, such as official travel or meetings.

Furthermore, the government will rely on debt issuance financing, such as pandemic bonds to deal with the widening budget deficit.