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awmakers at the House of Representatives hope to pass the Financial System Stability Net (JPSK) bill into law in the first quarter to provide legal certainty for policy makers when making crucial financial decisions in times of need.

According to Hendrawan Supratikno of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also a member of Commission XI overseeing finance and banking, deliberations on the bill are almost complete.

'€œWe'€™re making good progress. We'€™re certain that we can pass it into law in February; in the third week of February at the latest,'€ he said on Tuesday.

For the second year running, the bill has been listed as a National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority, after deliberation of it did not reach completion in 2015.

The JPSK bill is a highly anticipated one, as it will provide legal certainty for policy makers amid tumultuous economic times that could potentially lead to an economic crisis, and the possible collapse of banks.

Once passed, the law will oversee the establishment of a Financial System Stability Committee that will be headed by the finance minister. Its other members will comprise the Bank Indonesia (BI) governor, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairperson and the Deposit Insurance Corporation chairperson.

All members of the committee will be required to reach a unanimous agreement when deciding whether or not the country is in an economic crisis. The decision will then trigger a series of measures that are expected to shield the financial system from worsening further, including salvaging key domestic banks.

However, Johnny G. Plate, lawmaker from the NasDem Party, said that the '€œcrisis decision'€ was still a big issue that had not been solved by the JPSK bill working committee.

'€œIt'€™s part of our pending matters. We have not decided what will be under the authority of the committee and what will be under the authority of the President,'€ said Johnny, who is also a Commission XI member.

He added that bailout mechanisms and funding for bailouts were among pending matters that the working committee was facing as well.

Similar to Hendrawan, Johnny said that the lawmakers expected to pass the bill into law in the first quarter, specifically in March.

After the law has been finalized, lawmakers will then proceed with revisions of the BI Law, OJK Law and LPS Law '€” all of which closely relate to the mechanism of the JPSK '€” hoping to complete them before year-end.

Meanwhile, Tuesday'€™s plenary session also approved the tax amnesty draft being added to the Prolegnas.

As reported before, the tax amnesty is one crucial tool that the government expects will help drive revenue, boost tax compliance and bring fresh funds into the country by pardoning tax evaders.

According to Firman Soebagyo, a Golkar Party politician and deputy chairman at the House'€™s Legislation Body (Baleg), the House is currently waiting for the government to submit the tax amnesty draft and a presidential mandate (Ampres).

'€œThis is because the issue was originally proposed by the government. After that, the steering committee will decide which House body should discuss the matter, the Baleg or Commission XI,'€ he said.

Separately, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the government had completed the tax amnesty draft. '€œThe President just has to deliver it to the House.'€

Bambang expressed optimism that they would be able to pass the draft into bill and then into law before the first half ended.