JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on Tuesday said he had signed a regulation to let the government significantly raise spending in its fight against the coronavirus and widen the 2020 budget deficit to 5.07% of GDP.
Widodo also announced a national public health emergency, and said the government would spend 405.1 trillion rupiah ($24.85 billion) more on COVID-19 response, social welfare programs and economic stimulus, including a 3 percentage point cut in corporate tax rates to 22%.
The emergency regulation is effective immediately, but parliament must approve it to turn it into a law in its current session.
(Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo, Maikel Jefriando and Bernadette Christina Munthe; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
