Economic Resilience Maintained

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

A visitor chooses eggs at the Hypermart Tanah Abang retail shopping center, Jakarta, on Thursday (9/24/2020).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The continued resilience of state-owned enterprises (SOE), stimulus packages for the business world and social safety net programs are believed to have helped prevent Indonesia from falling deeper toward a recession. These aspects are supported by a restructuring program and the distribution of working capital loans.

The government has once again revised its economic growth projection for the third quarter of 2020 to a range of minus 1 percent to minus 2.9 percent. Therefore, Indonesia will definitely go into a recession because economic growth has been in the negative for two consecutive quarters. In the second quarter of 2020, the economy grew by minus 5.32 percent.

State-owned diversified manufacturer PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (Persero) business development and control director Febriyanto said on Thursday (24/9/2020) that SOEs, as part of a so-called food cluster, had partnered with 2,500 food stalls and connected them to the market through an online application for food stall partners. The food cluster, chaired by PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI), plays a role as a compiler for micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) products in the fields of agriculture, stockbreeding and fisheries, the products of which are distributed to food stalls.

Also read: Real Sector Key to Quick Recovery

People who download the food stall partner application can shop online at food stalls. "By the end of 2020, the food cluster SOEs are targeting 15,000 MSMEs to be incorporated into the food stall partner concept," he said.

The SOEs in the grouping consist of eight SEOs, namely RNI, PT Sang Hyang Seri (Persero), PT Pertani (Persero), PT Perikanan Nusantara (Persero), Perum Perikanan Indonesia, PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (Persero), PT Bedikari (Persero), and PT Bhanda Ghara Reksa (Persero). By the end of this year, these companies are targeted to become food holding companies.

Kompas

People walk past a sale sign in a department store window in Melbourne\'s central business district on June 3, 2020. - Australia is heading for its first recession in nearly three decades after the economy shrunk in the January-March quarter, with a "far more severe" reading expected in the next three months as the effects of the virus shutdown bite.

State-owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (Persero) capital and management director, Syofvi Felienty Roekman, said that PLN had received Rp 15.4 trillion (US$1.03 billion) from the government to provide a stimulus for 45 million customers affected by COVID-19 in April-December 2020. The distribution of an electricity usage stimulus for 450-900 volt ampere customers has reached Rp 1.2 trillion per month and less than Rp 1 billion per month for MSMEs.

Labor intensive

To help people affected by COVID-19, the Transportation Ministry runs a labor-intensive program by prioritizing health protocols. Its activities include construction, maintenance, repair and cleaning transportation facilities and infrastructure.

Simple civil work is carried out by utilizing local labor or those who reside near the project location and those who are not skilled. "As of September 2020, labor-intensive programs in the transportation sector have recruited 16,000 workers," said Transportation Ministry secretary-general Djoko Sasono.

In sea transportation, the realization figure hit Rp 5.15 billion (78.36 percent), compared to the target of Rp 6.57 billion.

As of September 23, the realization of labor-intensive wage costs at the Land Transportation Directorate General had reached Rp 14.35 billion (30.8 percent) of the targeted Rp 46.53 billion. In sea transportation, the realization figure hit Rp 5.15 billion (78.36 percent), compared to the target of Rp 6.57 billion. At the Air Transportation Directorate General, Rp 12.3 billion (63.08 percent) was realized from the Rp 19.5 billion target, while the total at the Railway Directorate General was Rp 28.1 billion (55.67 percent) of the Rp 50.5 billion target.

Also read: Recovering from Slowdown

Meanwhile, the Workers Social Security Agency (BP Jamsostek) provided a stimulus for the business world in the form of relaxations. There are four types of relaxation, to be given across six months from August 2020 to January 2021, namely the extension of the deadline for contribution payments, the provision of deductions to contributions, delayed payments of the contribution and the provision of relief for fines due to late payments. "Up to 99 percent of discounts and deductions for the contributions are given during the relaxation period. So, it is almost free of charge," said BP Jamsostek director for participant affairs Ilyas Lubis.

Ilyas said the relaxation of BP Jamsostek contributions during the pandemic could ease the company\'s cash burden, but this did not change the company\'s obligation to protect workers. The company is still required to register and protect all workers in the BP Jamsostek program. "Workers who are furloughed or work from home must also be protected in the BP Jamsostek program. As of July 2020, there are 4.9 million workers who have dropped their participation," he said.

Separately, Financial Services Authority (OJK) public relations and logistics deputy commissioner Anto Prabowo said that the OJK continued to promote the bank loan restructuring program. As of September 7, 2020, credit restructuring has been carried out for 7.38 million MSME and non-MSME debtors with a total credit value of Rp 884.5 trillion.

The OJK also monitors the management of government funds placed in commercial banks, both in the State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara) with Rp 30 trillion and in the regional development bank (BPD) group of Rp 11.5 trillion. As of September 14, 2020, the realization of credit disbursement for the funds placement in Himbara reached Rp. 119.8 trillion. For the BPD group, as of September 16, 2020, the number was Rp 7.4 trillion. (LKT/CAS/AGE/DIM)