Indonesia plans to relax budget deficit limit to beyond 3% of GDP to tackle coronavirus crisis

Indonesia plans to relax budget deficit limit to beyond 3% of GDP for three years to allow for more spending on COVID-19 response, the country’s Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

In an effort to curb the coronavirus spread, the Foreign Ministry announced that the government would ban all arrivals and transit by foreigners in the country.

Meanwhile, the country also plans to mobilize volunteers to fight the spread of coronavirus in coastal villages and the vast hinterlands of the archipelago with part of a US$4.4 billion (S$6.27 billion) rural budget to be used to fund the initiative, the Straits Times reported.

The disease that has already infected more than 1,400 people and killed 122, the highest death toll in South-east Asia.

USD/IDR reaction

USD/IDR flirts with the daily highs of 16,378, up 0.32% on a daily basis, at the time of writing. The Indonesian rupiah remains pressured amid growing coronavirus concerns on the economy.