Sri Mulyani Outspoken Bali Tourism Guyur Rp1.18 Trillion In 2020

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani during a working visit to Bali. (Photo: OJK Youtube screen capture)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani explained that the government has disbursed grants of not less than Rp1.18 for the tourism sector in Bali Province in 2020. The move is intended to reduce the impact of economic hunting due to the COVID-19 pandemic that began to hit last year.

"The funds are given to 9 districts and cities in the province," he said at the National Economic Recovery Acceleration Meeting in Bali which was broadcast virtually, Friday, April 9.

Minister of Finance added, actually there are still many regions that apply for the same. However, the government must decide which areas should actually be helped based on the scale of priorities and the impacts caused by the pandemic.

"I know there are still many districts and cities that want this assistance because Bali is one of the provinces most affected by the pandemic," he added.

"This grant policy was also decided after hearing input from hotel, restaurant, and accommodation businesses or Horeka," he continued.

Meanwhile, some areas in Bali that receive grants from this government include Denpasar, and Gianyar. Meanwhile, the total grants disbursed in 2020 amounted to Rp3.3 trillion to 101 regions throughout Indonesia.

For information, Bali Province experienced a contraction of economic growth for four consecutive quarters throughout 2020. In the first trimester of last year, the growth rate was minus 1.2 percent. Then in the next three trimesters respectively, minus 11.06 percent, minus 12.32 percent, and minus 12.21 percent.

Accumulatively, the region that relies on its economy from the tourism sector posted economic growth in 2020 of minus 9.31 percent.