GENERAL NEWS AND HEADLINES

Jokowi seeks social aid for 3.7 million farmers, fishermen
TribunNews (https://tinyurl.com/ydygttnh); Tempo (https://tinyurl.com/yc3e878c); Kompas (https://tinyurl.com/ybar4bq7); Katadata (https://tinyurl.com/y9ofe6sx); Liputan6 (https://tinyurl.com/y76z55k3)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has prepared various social assistance schemes for poor farmers and fishermen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jokowi has asked his staff ensure that 2.7 million farmers, along with 1 million fishermen, receive social aid through the Family Hope Program (PKH), cash transfers (BLT) and staple food packages, as well as the subsidized electricity program, which was mentioned during a virtual limited meeting held earlier today.

Furthermore, he also requested that farmers and fishermen be given a working capital stimulus for both agricultural and marine businesses, emphasizing that the aid-distribution procedure should not be overcomplicated.

The government has also prepared assistance through non-fiscal instruments. Jokowi expressed the hope that the supply chain policy would help improve both sectors, especially with the provision of seeds and fertilizers, as well as other production equipment.

 

Tourism Ministry to prepare “new normal” tourism promotion
Tempo (https://tinyurl.com/yb4osghs); Kompas (https://tinyurl.com/yck5zz2l)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has asked the Tourism Ministry to begin preparing tourism-promotion packages for domestic tourism, following the implementation of the “new normal” protocols.

The ministry was asked to identify tourist destinations that had a basic reproductive number (R0) of COVID-19 under 1.

However, a specific timeline for the sector’s reopening has not yet been clarified.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama said that a number of measures must be in place before tourist destinations can be reopened to the public. The simulation of standard operational procedures (SOPs) would have to be done before the implementation of the reopening and then disseminated among the public.

Therefore, Wishnutama insisted that the ministry would continue to coordinate with regional administrations to ensure the readiness of a specific area before reopening its tourism sector.

 

Task force approves 2020 Pilkada, preliminary stages to begin in June
CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y7f8yzwf)

National COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardo has given the General Elections Commission (KPU) the go-ahead to proceed with the 2020 regional elections (Pilkada) after their postponement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has confirmed that the preliminary stages of the regional elections will begin in June, stipulated in COVID-19 task force letter B-196/KA GUGUS/PD.01.02/05/2020 signed on May 27.

However, Doni asserted that each stage of the election must be carried out in accordance with the required health protocols imposed by the government to mitigate COVID-19 transmission. He has also requested that the election organizers continue to coordinate with the task force in preparing the protocols.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS NEWS AND HEADLINES

OJK: Bank loan restructuring reaches $31 billion
CNBC Indonesia, (https://tinyurl.com/y9a3rlyp); Bisnis Indonesia, (https://tinyurl.com/ybhupgl8) 

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has announced that 95 banks had approved loan restructuring requests from 4.9 million borrowers amounting to Rp 458.8 trillion (US$31 billion) as of May 18. In the multifinance industry, the amount of loan restructuring reached Rp 66.78 trillion as of May 26. The loan restructuring requests were submitted by 2.1 million borrowers and approved by 183 multifinance companies. OJK chairman Wimboh Santoso estimates that 50 percent of micro, small and medium enterprises’ loans need to be restructured, amounting to between Rp 500 trillion and Rp 600 trillion.

 

Customs office: Rp 2.74 trillion of healthcare imports received tax exemptions
Investor Daily, (https://tinyurl.com/y99tljx9); Tirto, (https://tinyurl.com/yapohcnh) 

The Finance Ministry’s Customs and Excise Directorate General has announced that the government disbursed tax exemptions worth Rp 602.6 billion (US$40.7 million) for Rp 2.74 trillion worth of imported healthcare supplies from March 13 to May 19. The imported healthcare supplies included 106 million medical face masks. Nevertheless, the Indonesian Filament and Fiber Producers Association (APSyFI) and the Indonesian Textile Association (API) are displeased with the tax-exemption policy. They say the funding should be used to procure protective health gear from domestic manufacturers, helping companies to avoid lay-offs.

 

OJK relaxes banking regulations ahead of ‘new normal’ policy implementation
Kontan, (https://tinyurl.com/y8e5b2ea) 

The Financial Services Authority (OJK) has issued new regulatory relaxations for the banking sector ahead of the implementation of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s so-called “new normal” policy. The OJK’s regulatory relaxation includes a delay on Basel III implementation, accounting adjustments for conventional and shariah banks by allowing them to exclude restructured debts from the “loan at risk” category, as well as various relaxation measures on key financial ratios. BUKU III banks with core capital in the range of Rp 5 trillion (US$338 million) to Rp 30 trillion and BUKU IV banks with core capital over Rp 30 trillion are allowed to reduce their capital conservation buffers to 2.5 percent, and their liquidity coverage ratios and net stable funding ratios to 85 percent until March 2021. For secondary banks (BPR), the OJK has relaxed their provision for loan loss requirements to less than 0.5 percent.

 

Jokowi to revive tourism with ‘new normal’ protocol
Kontan, (https://tinyurl.com/yak83rsw); CNN Indonesia, (https://tinyurl.com/ybdmy5ko) 

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Wishnutama Kusubandio to prepare “new normal” protocols for the tourist sector. “[New normal tourism] will focus on domestic tourists,” President Jokowi said. He also predicts that tourism in the new normal will shift to solo traveling, wellness tourism and staycations.

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