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Japan offers Indonesia financial shot in the arm
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This handout photo taken and released on Oct. 20, 2020 by the Indonesian Presidential Palace shows Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (left) and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (right) meeting at the Bogor palace on the outskirts of Jakarta. (AFP/Indonesian Presidential Palace)
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apanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has offered Indonesia 50 billion yen (US$473.1 million) in loans to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prime minister announced the offer in a joint press statement with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo after a bilateral meeting on Tuesday.
"Considering the impact of the spread of COVID-19 on the Indonesian economy, on this occasion, Japan has set a financial loan amounting 50 billion yen to increase Indonesia's disaster management capacity,” Suga said through an interpreter on Tuesday evening.
“In addition, Japan will encourage cooperation with health assessment institutions in Indonesia by providing medical goods and equipment."
Indonesia has experienced one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Asia, with 368,842 confirmed cases and a death toll of 12,734. The Health Ministry added 3,602 confirmed cases on Tuesday.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that Indonesia’s economic downturn is likely to be worse than previously expected as the country struggles to contain the pandemic. Indonesia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is now expected to shrink by 1.5 percent annually, rather than the 0.3 percent contraction the IMF projected in June.
Jokowi said Japan had been an important partner for Indonesia in managing the COVID-19 crisis, ever since Indonesia evacuated its citizens from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama.
