Indonesia is not the only nation to be reeling from the unprecedented pressure since nearly all countries worldwide are also facing a similar situation, elicited by the novel coronavirus disease pandemic, he noted in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Wuryanto pointed out that Indonesia, emerging as the 16th-largest economy in the world, which was instrumental in it being honored to be a member of G-20, was one of its strengths.
However, it depends on the Indonesian government and people to optimally capitalize on this strength to drive economic recovery, he emphasized, adding that it should be able to revive the country's economic activities.
The global pandemic of this deadly virus has disrupted various economic sectors, and Indonesia should be able to flatten the curve of its COVID-19 cases to enable swifter economic recovery, he affirmed.
Wuryanto suggested the Indonesian government to be meticulous in selecting the most prioritized economic sectors for its recovery program by taking into account budget availability.
The coronavirus outbreak initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019 and thereafter spread to various parts of the world, including countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government made an announcement of the country's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020. Since the onset, the government has been sentient of the public health and economic issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the number of poor people in communities owing to various economic and business sectors being significantly disrupted that triggered layoffs.
Indonesia's former tourism minister Arief Yahya opined that the global economy would eventually recover from the twin crises encumbering several nations worldwide owing to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.
"According to experts, the public health and economic problems arising from this COVID-19 pandemic would have been handled by 2022," Yahya stated at a virtual seminar on Indonesia's 2020 Brand Forum recently.
Nearly all experts have projected a rather slow and gradual global economic recovery during the post-novel coronavirus pandemic period, the minister noted.
Two main challenges in the path to realizing global economic recovery include finding ways to optimally handle the public health and economic issues arising from the novel coronavirus disease since they will otherwise impact the social sector, he pointed out.
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Translator: Astrid FH, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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