Jakarta (ANTARA) – The government has decided to extend the implementation of public activity restrictions (PPKM) outside of Java and Bali once more despite the fact that COVID-19 cases have started to decline.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto made the remarks at an online press conference following a PPKM evaluation meeting here on Monday.
The PPKM will be extended by 14 days, he informed.
The extended PPKM will be imposed from January 4 to January 17, 2022, he said.
According to Hartarto, the effective case reproduction rate has remained at 0.98 on average. Then, in terms of COVID-19 handling, entire districts or cities are still at Level 1, he informed.
However, a number of districts or cities have had differing responses concerning vaccination, which remains below 70 percent.
“Districts or cities with PPKM Level 1 have increased from 191 to 227. Those with PPKM Level 2 have decreased from 169 to 148 districts or cities, and Level 3 have decreased from 26 to 11 districts or cities,” he said.
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The government is also preparing to administer booster shots or third vaccinations, he added. In the future, there will be a revision within the Health Ministerial Regulation and the Government Regulation, Hartarto noted.
This will be announced by the health minister on January 12, 2022, he said.
For COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (PC-PEN) in 2022, the government has allocated a budget of Rp414 trillion, he noted.
This is because the PC-PEN within the last two years has proven to be capable of serving as a cushion for the national economy, maintaining the Gini coefficient and unemployment rate, and creating jobs, he elaborated.
“We expect that the quarterly economic growth would be at 4.5-5 percent while the year-on-year growth would be at 3.7-4 percent,” he explained.
“Hence, entering the year 2022, we could encourage frontloading from the budget,” he added.
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