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The state must be present to save people from crisis, says House Speaker Puan Maharani
The government has been granted authority to impose fiscal, state financial and financial stability policies to overcome the pandemic and its impacts.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (right) waves as he walks into the House of Representatives complex accompanied by House Speaker Puan Maharani (center) and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo to attend the annual joint meeting to commemorate Independence Day on Aug. 14. (Antara/Galih Pradipta)
T
he state must do everything it can to curb the impact of the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani said on Friday.
The pandemic has posed a serious threat to people’s safety and welfare, she said while noting that all sectors and sources of income had been disrupted.
"The state must be present to save the people from the threat of a health crisis, the threat of an economic crisis and the threat of a welfare crisis by doing all that it can," the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician said in her speech at the annual joint meeting held at the House compound.
Puan went on to say that the government should impose policies and programs to increase health sector capacity, expand social protections, implement large-scale social restrictions and accelerate economic recovery as the pandemic had impacted economic growth significantly.
The government has been granted authority to impose fiscal, state financial and financial stability policies to overcome the pandemic and its impacts, she said, referring to the Law No.2/2020 on the COVID-19 response budget.
"The government is expected to be able to carry out various effective measures, both through policies, cross-sector coordination, fiscal and monetary instruments, as well as consolidating all existing potentials and resources, to immediately restore the country’s social and economic health,” Puan added.
The joint meeting among all branches of the government was held to commemorate Indonesia’s 75th Independence Day, which falls on Monday.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was also present to give his annual state of the nation address.
