Indonesia's Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has voiced its support for the government’s plan to reallocate state budgets for providing healthcare, social security, and economic incentives to help the nation deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.

“BPK has handed over decision-making regarding budget reallocations to the government in view of the current pandemic," BPK Chairman Agung Firman Sampurna stated in Jakarta on Thursday.

Sampurna said the budget reallocations, which are expected to widen the budget deficit, can be implemented under a new law, including issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu).

Earlier, the BPK chairman had held a meeting with government officials to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the examination of the 2019 Central Government Financial Report (LKPP) and the Regional Government Financial Report (LKPD), which will be conducted by BPK auditors.

The meeting also discussed revision and implementation of the 2020 budget for healthcare as well as provision of social safety and economic incentives for SMEs to help them cope with the impact of the outbreak.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati had said the government needed to consult the BPK before reallocating state budgets and discuss the possibility of increasing budget deficit to more than 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Minister Indrawati said she hoped that transparency and accountability could be maintained during the consultation to avoid any violations of the law that could harm state finances.  (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on Thursday urged G20 leaders to fight the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak and check the global economic slowdown triggered by the pandemic.

"First, we must strengthen cooperation against COVID-19," President Jokowi said while participating in the G20 Extraordinary Sherpa Meeting from the Bogor Palace, West Java via video conference on Thursday evening.

According to Jokowi, the world's 20 major economies must encourage global solidarity in handling COVID-19. He said G20 leaders need to initiate efforts so that the pandemic does not interfere with partnerships and cooperation between countries that have been built over years.

"For this reason, the G20 must actively lead efforts to find the anti-virus and medication for COVID-19, of course, hand in hand with the WHO," he said.

Jokowi also encouraged G20 countries to work together and synergize economic policies and instruments to fight the slowdown in the world economy due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We must prevent a global economic recession through coordinated fiscal and monetary policies, and expand and strengthen social safety nets, especially for MSMEs," Jokowi said.

The President also encouraged the G20 to maintain financial sector stability, including maintaining liquidity and providing relief to the business community, which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"With the high global financial turmoil, foreign exchange support is very important. I also support widening of the global and regional financial safety net, including through (mechanisms such as) the SDR swap line and currency swap facility, such as the Chiang Mai Initiative," the President stated.

He also asserted the importance of G20 member countries preventing production disruption, and maintaining smooth distribution of goods, “mainly staple food and health goods”.

Jokowi ended his statement by emphasizing the need for G20 countries to build global confidence that the world would win the war against COVID-19 and overcome the crisis caused by the pandemic. (ANTARA)

Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, at a press conference on Thursday (26/3/2020) in Jakarta (ANTARA)

DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan and his task force will explore legal measures to ensure Jakartans remain in the capital city and do not venture out of it to stem the spread of COVID-19.

“We will discuss legal measures that we can take with the task force so that we can implement them on a strong footing,” he said on Thursday in Jakarta.

He explained that the provincial government had long been advising residents to refrain from leaving the capital city in order to keep coronavirus infections from spreading further, however, there were certain jurisdictions regarding limiting public movements.

“In terms of advice, two weeks ago, I have encouraged the public to not return to their hometowns, not to leave Jakarta, in the interest of public health,” he said at a press conference.

The Governor appealed to the people to think of the general public instead of focusing just on themselves.

He had earlier asked Jakartans to postpone trips outside the capital city to contain coronavirus infections. It was stipulated in the DKI Jakarta Governor’s Appeal Number 4 of 2020 on social distancing measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The provincial government in Jakarta reported 495 COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths in the city as on March 26. Fifty of the patients testing positive for the infection were medical workers.

Chief of the DKI Jakarta COVID-19 Team, Catur Laswanto, said the city had 1,850 people under surveillance (ODP) and 895 patients undergoing treatment (PDP). (ANTARA)

Shares in Asia have continued a global rally, as stock markets bounce back from major losses in recent days.

Expectations are growing that US lawmakers are close to agreeing an almost $2tn plan to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its biggest one-day gain in almost nine decades.

The moves continue a pattern of extreme volatility on financial markets as investors grapple with the effects of the outbreak.

In morning trade Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 5.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 3.3%, and China's Shanghai Composite was up by 1.9%.

It continues a period of unprecedented volatility as markets react wildly to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

This month alone has seen the Dow having the five biggest daily gains and five biggest falls of its 135-year history.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 11.4% on Tuesday, as it saw its biggest one-day gain since 1933. (BBC)