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Businesses call for transparent action in handling novel coronavirus
Indonesia had faced global scrutiny prior to the confirmation of the COVID-19 cases.
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Member of presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) check on a visitor's body temperature using a thermal Gun at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, on Tuesday, March 3, 2020. The body temperature checks are carried out for all guests, including ministers and heads of state institutions that enter the Palace to prevent the spread of the corona virus. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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nalysts and businesspeople have called on the government to take transparent and comprehensive steps to prevent a domestic COVID-19 outbreak and mitigate any potential economic risks after Indonesia announced its first two confirmed cases.
The government is expected to face rapid capital outflows, leading to continued weakness of the rupiah, according to Fitch Solutions’ Asia country risk research head Anwita Basu.
“The other concern we have is that, policymakers have only taken action to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on the external sectors,” she wrote in an email to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “So far, we have seen limited resources going toward the country’s public health services to avoid a domestic epidemic.”
Read also: Government delays incentives for foreign tourists after COVID-19 hits Indonesia
Last week, foreign investors sold a net Rp 33.6 trillion (US$2.36 billion) in both Indonesian stocks and bonds, forcing stocks and the rupiah to fall 7.3 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively.
Foreign investors in the local stock market sold a net Rp 532.54 billion over the first two trading sessions this week, after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced the first two confirmed COVID-19 cases on Indonesian soil on Monday. The Jakarta Composite Index, however, jumped 2.94 percent to 5,518.63 on Tuesday while the rupiah depreciated by 0.12 percent to Rp 14,282 against the greenback.
Indonesia had faced global scrutiny prior to the confirmation of the COVID-19 cases, as it maintained it was “virus-free” despite the high number of Chinese visitors to the country and the relatively small number of tests conducted compared to other countries.
