Vaccine Availability to Boost Business Confidence in 2021: Deputy Cabinet Secretary

Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Economic Affairs Satya Bhakti Parikesit delivers remarks during a virtual Focus Group Discussion (FGD) held under the theme “Reviewing the Implementation of National Economic Recovery Policies in Business Incentive Cluster” on Thursday (10/12) in Jakarta. Photo by: PR/Teguh

The arrival of vaccine in Indonesia can boost confidence in business sectors, particularly for business actors to stay optimistic in facing the situation in 2021, Deputy Cabinet Secretary for Economic Affairs Satya Bhakti Parikesit has said.

“The vaccine is a game changer. We hope it will become a game changer in 2021,” Bhakti said in his remarks during a virtual Focus Group Discussion (FGD) held under the theme “Reviewing the Implementation of National Economic Recovery Policies in Business Incentive Cluster” on Thursday (10/12) in Jakarta.

Bhakti went on to say that in a bid to handle COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild the national economy, the Government has issued a number of policies in health sector and social protection sector to maintain public consumption and purchasing power. The policies include support for MSMEs and corporate financing as well as business incentives, he added.

“In the context of the business incentive, the Government provides several fiscal incentives, including income tax exemption for imports, reduced installments, refund, preliminary value added tax, rate reduction and other policies,” he stated.

In term of budget absorption, Bhakti continued, the absorption rate in business incentive cluster is still relatively small. Of the total budget allocation amounting to Rp120.61 trillion, only 38.5 percent has been absorbed.

“We surely hope that if the budget can be absorbed, it will become leverage for the national economic recovery,” Bhakti said, adding that the Government is aware that the most effective instrument to be implemented in this situation is the State Budget. (TGH/UN) (RI/MUR)