VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. A Finance Ministry official has projected that Indonesia's economy will grow by around 7-8 percent in the second quarter of this year as recovery picks up pace.

"In the second quarter, we believe that if the rhythm and trend of improvement in COVID-19 continues, recovery can be accelerated to growth of 7 percent to 8 percent," said head of the Macro Policy Center for the Fiscal Policy Agency at the ministry, Hidayat Amir.

He made the remarks at a webinar on Indonesia Macroeconomic Update 2021, which he joined from Jakarta on Thursday.

The projected growth at this level is still realistic considering that Indonesia had a low base in the second quarter of last year, namely minus 5.3 percent, he explained.

Not only that, various indicators of economic growth, such as cement and motor vehicle sales, are also seen starting to increase after being suppressed by the impact of the extraordinary pandemic last year, he pointed out.

"Hopefully, several emerging indicators such as cement and motor vehicle sales can become leading indicators," he remarked.

He assured that his agency would continue to monitor developments in the economic indicators as well as expedite efforts to deal with COVID-19.

Amir also predicted that Indonesia's economy for the first quarter of this year will still be in a contraction zone of around minus 1.1 percent to minus 0.1 percent.

"It is possible to approach the lower level, but we will see some indicators continue to improve. We will continue to monitor this change,” he said. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Beijing blamed the United States on Thursday for tensions over Taiwan after a U.S. warship sailed close to the Chinese-claimed island, asking rhetorically whether China would sail in the Gulf of Mexico as a “show of strength”.

The democratically-run island has complained of repeated military activities by Beijing in recent months, with China’s air force making almost daily forays into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.

On Monday, China said an aircraft carrier group was exercising close to the island, and on Wednesday a U.S. warship sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait that separates the island from its giant neighbour.

Speaking at a daily news briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said U.S. ships engaging in “provocations” “send a seriously wrong signal to the forces of Taiwan independence, threatening peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.

“Would a Chinese warship go to the Gulf of Mexico to make a show of strength?” he added.

In 2015, five Chinese Navy ships sailed in international waters in the Bering Sea off Alaska, in an apparent first for China’s military that came as then-U.S. President Barack Obama toured the U.S. state.

The U.S. Navy has been regularly conducting what it calls “routine” transits of the Taiwan Strait.

Washington has expressed its concern about a pattern of Chinese intimidation efforts in the region, including towards Taiwan, reiterating that the U.S. commitment to Taiwan is “rock solid”.

China believes the United States is colluding with Taiwan to challenge Beijing and giving support to those who want the island to declare formal independence.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says they are already an independent country called the Republic of China, the island’s official name.

Taiwan is China’s most sensitive territorial issue and a major bone of contention between Beijing and Washington.

The widely-read Chinese state-backed tabloid the Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said on Thursday China’s carrier group had been drilling near Taiwan “amid U.S. provocations”.

It published what it said was a conversation between a Chinese fighter pilot and a Taiwanese one, who was warning China’s aircraft to turn around.

“This is China’s airspace,” the Chinese pilot says, in a recording the paper said was made on Tuesday while he was on duty cruising southwest of Taiwan. (Reuters)

Jakarta. New Zealand on Thursday temporarily suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for about two weeks following a high number of positive coronavirus cases arriving from the South Asian country.

The move comes after New Zealand recorded 23 new positive coronavirus cases at its border on Thursday, of which 17 were from India.

“We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a news conference in Auckland.

India has recorded 12.8 million COVID-19 cases, the most after the United States and Brazil. It is now battling a deadly second wave of infections, and this week the number of daily new cases passed the peak of the first wave seen last September.

The suspension will start from 1600 local time on April 11 and will be in place until April 28. During this time the government will look at risk management measures to resume travel.

The suspension applies to anyone who has been in India during the past 14 days. It is the first time that New Zealand has extended any bar on entry to its own citizens and residents.

“I want to emphasize that while arrivals of COVID from India has prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high risk points of departure generally. This is not a country specific risk assessment...,” Ardern said.

New Zealand has virtually eliminated the virus within its borders, and has not reported any community transmission locally for about 40 days.

But it has been reviewing its border settings as more infected people have been arriving recently, most of them from India.

Pre-departure testing requirements reduced the number of positive cases coming from other countries but that’s not been the case with India, Ardern said.

“We have looked into whether or not we have issues with accuracy of the pre-departure tests. That has not demonstrated that that’s where the problem lies. So this suspension gives us the time to look at the problem more generally,” she said.

New Zealand on Thursday also reported one new locally infected case in a worker who was employed at a coronavirus managed isolation facility. (Reuters)

Jakarta. Australia said on Thursday it now recommends the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine over that produced by AstraZeneca. for people under the age of 50.

Europe’s drug regulator on Wednesday found a possible link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who had received the shot and said it had taken into consideration all available evidence.

Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said that while the risk is extremely low, the country’s experts have changed their advice for those at greatest risk.

Australia will continue to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over 70. (Reuters)