GENERAL NEWS AND HEADLINES

Govt considers replacement holiday for ‘mudik’
CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/rgf9bxg); Tempo (https://tinyurl.com/tosm3vl); TribunNews (https://tinyurl.com/s9zfssx)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has requested that ministers start preparing a comprehensive scenario regarding the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) this year.

This was discussed by government officials during a limited meeting held through a video conference on Thursday. As the government has advised people not to return to their hometowns for Idul Fitri, the meeting considered introducing a replacement national holiday while shifting mudik to a later time.

President Jokowi urged the government to help facilitate the mudik should it be delayed. Furthermore, Jokowi suggested free entry for tourist attractions and facilities in certain areas during the substitute holiday in the hopes of putting citizens’ minds at ease.

 

House to resume deliberating KUHP bill amid pandemic
The Jakarta Post (https://tinyurl.com/twnhuwr)

The House of Representatives is set to resume deliberation of revisions to the Criminal Code (KUHP) and the 1995 Correctional Center Law, at a time when the country is consumed by efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

It plans to restart the deliberation of both bills during a plenary session Thursday afternoon. 

The deliberation of the two bills was postponed in September 2019 following widespread protests led by tens of thousands of university students over the passing of a revised law on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The protesters argued that the bills would threaten democracy and curtail civil rights.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly and the House Commission III overseeing legal affairs agreed to resume deliberating the two bills after the government decided to start releasing inmates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country's overcrowded prisons.

 

Ministry revises regulation to prevent correctional facilities from overcrowding
Media Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/sqa6txr)

Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly proposed a revision to Government Regulation No. 99/2012 concerning the procedures and requirements to grant remission, a measure taken to prevent correctional facilities from overcrowding, as the COVID-19 outbreak has called for physical distancing.

Thus far, the 50,000 inmates that qualify for early release include drug convicts that had served five to 10 years in prison, 300 graft inmates aged 60 years and above, 1,457 special crimes convicts with chronic diseases and 53 foreign prisoners who had served two-thirds of their sentences.

 

 BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS NEWS AND HEADLINES

BI pledges to strengthen rupiah to Rp 15,000 per US dollar
CNBC Indonesia, (https://tinyurl.com/ror8qc2); Kontan, (https://tinyurl.com/u4woge6); Kompas, (https://tinyurl.com/ua6zszg); The Jakarta Post, (https://tinyurl.com/vafo554) 

Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo has vowed to continue with its intervention in the financial market to stabilize the rupiah exchange rate to Rp 15,000 per United States dollar by year-end as Indonesia faces a worst-case scenario of the rupiah sliding to a historic low as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The central bank and the government projected Wednesday that the rupiah would hover at around Rp 17,500 to Rp 20,000 against the greenback in the worst-case scenario, which would be the weakest in history, if the Indonesian economy contracted and the COVID-19 downturn was prolonged.

The government and BI have also prepared for an economic contraction of 0.4 percent if the pandemic lingers. The baseline scenario was that the economy would grow 2.3 percent this year, the lowest in 21 years, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Wednesday.

                                                                                                                        

OJK lengthens payment term for insurance premiums
Kontan, (https://tinyurl.com/w2um95q) 

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has lengthened the payment term for insurance premiums from two months to four months through the issuance of Circular Letter No. S-11/D.05/2020. The Indonesian General Insurance Association (AAUI) chairman Hastanto Sri Margi Widodo has urged member companies to communicate the OJK’s regulatory relaxation policy to their customers. The relaxation policy helps insurance companies in maintaining their solvency by allowing companies to record delayed insurance premium payments as performing assets, the AAUI stated.

 

Apindo: Property business faces serious cash flow problem
Bisnis Indonesia, (https://tinyurl.com/wwsfpbf) 

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has urged the government to extend its economic stimulus program to the property sector, as property companies, particularly lower- and middle-income property companies, face serious cash flow problems that might lead to bankruptcy. Indonesian Settlements and Housing Developers Association (Apersi) chairman Junaidi Abdullah and Indonesian Property Watch (IPW) executive director Ali Tranghanda said many property businesses could only maintain their cash flow for the next one to three months. Apindo’s property and economic zones head Sanny Iskandar urged the government to extend its tax-exemption program provided for the manufacturing industry to the property sector.

 

TaniHub raises $17 million for 2021 business expansion
The Jakarta Post, (https://tinyurl.com/qqkf3t7) 

Homegrown agricultural technology (agritech) start-up TaniHub Group has raised a new investment of about US$17 million to expand its services to up to 100,000 farmers by 2021, the start-up announced on Wednesday. The new investment, which is an extension round of its Series A funding, brings the total equity raised by the company to $29 million since 2016. Singapore-based Openspace Ventures led the round with participation from Intudo Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures, UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures, BRI Ventures and Tenaya Capital. TaniHub has now partnered with over 30,000 smallholder farmers across the country and operates five distribution hubs as it plans to roll out three more hubs. Moreover, it serves over 5,000 business customers and 115,000 retail customers through its platform.

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