The government has temporarily cut the luxury tax (PPnBM) on new car purchases and the value-added tax (PPN) on new homes in a bid to boost consumer spending. Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday that the tax cuts were expected to add between 0.9 and 1 percentage points to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year by reviving the automotive, real estate and construction sectors, all of which are labor-intensive industries. “These incentives, of course, cannot be separated from the people’s confidence in the vaccine and COVID-19 containment efforts as the keys to recovery,” he said during a joint press conference with the finance, industry and public works and housing ministers. The country officially began its vaccination program on Jan. 13 with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo...