T

he government says it has completed 82 percent of the deregulation as outlined in its first six economic policy packages issued between September and November.

Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki said as many as 135 regulations had been issued or were awaiting President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s approval, leaving only 30 regulations still being processed by the relevant ministries or institutions. '€œ[Implementation of] the packages is going according to plan,'€ Teten said in a statement on Sunday.

He added that the ministries were continuing to implement the deregulation while his office would keep an eye on the progress and effects.

According to Teten, the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister has set two deregulation deadlines that each ministry or institution should stick to.

The first deadline was set on Oct. 31 for the issuance of all ministerial regulations and decisions, regulations issued by institution heads and circulars announced in the first economic policy package.

Meanwhile, the second deadline is Dec. 31 for the issuance of all government regulations outlined in the six packages and all ministerial and institutional decisions, regulations and circulars announced in the second to sixth economic policy packages.

Teten said the issuance of the government regulations would take longer because such deregulation required further coordination among the relevant ministries or institutions.

Of the initially announced 175 items of deregulation, 39 are in the form of government regulations and presidential regulations and instructions while the remaining 136 are ministerial or institutional regulations. However, 10 of the total deregulation items were canceled at the suggestion of relevant ministries, leaving only 165 to be implemented.

The Trade Ministry has deregulated 32 of its policies, the most of all ministries and institutions, followed by the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry with 29, the Finance Ministry and the Industry Ministry with 16 and 15 respectively. The four ministries account for 53 percent of the total planned deregulation, data from the Presidential Office shows.

The government'€™s policy packages are designed to boost the country'€™s sluggish economy.

It released a seventh package on Dec. 5, the main points of which are income tax reduction for certain labor-intensive businesses, revision of Government Regulation No. 18/2015 on tax incentives for investment in specific business sectors, acceleration of the issuance of land titles, particularly for street vendors, and the addition of five more permits to the three-hour fast-track licensing program by the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Bank Danamon economist Dian Ayu Yustina said the government did not need to rush to complete the deregulation because the essential part was ensuring that the new regulation system was applicable and accommodated the targeted businesses.

'€œThe deregulation will probably start showing is impact in next year'€™s second half and fully affect the economy by 2017,'€ she said, adding that progress took time as the policies addressed prolonged economic structural problems.

Teten said his office and the office of the Coordinating Economic Minister had monitored implementation of the packages since November, as instructed by the President, and would assess their effects early next year once all deregulation was complete.