Rp483 Trillion State Budget Overcome COVID-19, Sri Mulyani's Staff Reminds Of Potential Increase In Cases During Christmas And New Year

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) stated that the public must continue to be aware of the potential increase in COVID-19 cases, especially before the Christmas and New Year's (Nataru) holidays.

Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency of the Ministry of Finance, Febrio Kacaribu, said that although at this time there had been significant improvements, all parties must continue to work together in the discipline of health protocols. In addition, the government is also still trying to accelerate vaccination.

"Vigilance must continue to be maintained considering that the first wave of COVID-19 in Indonesia occurred after the Nataru holiday," he said in an official statement, Friday, November 19.

According to Febrio, a positive signal for controlling COVID-19 in the country can be seen from daily cases, which average 375 cases in one week. The record was revealed by Febrio as the lowest since June 2020.

Other indications are low active cases, daily mortality, hospital bed occupancy rate (BOR) and positive case rate. As of November 17, 2021, active cases were at 8,390 or the lowest since May 2020, daily deaths were at 15 (7DMA), with a positive rate of 0.2 percent (7DMA) and the number of testing was still relatively high above 150,000 people per day.

Furthermore, Sri Mulyani's subordinate explained that to support the implementation of interventions in the health sector, the State Budget will continue to be deployed optimally and continue until 2022.

For information, as of November 14, the use of the National Economic Election (PEN) funds in the APBN which is devoted to dealing with COVID-19 has absorbed Rp483.91 trillion. This amount is equivalent to 65 percent of the prepared ceiling for this year of IDR744.75 trillion.

"This amount is also provided for health, social protection for the poor, priority programs for affected sectors such as tourism, support for small businesses and corporations, as well as tax incentives for the business world," closed Febrio.