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Slow vaccination takes toll on Indonesia in uneven global recovery
The IMF has revised down its growth forecast for several countries, many of which saw a surge in COVID-19 cases through June, including Indonesia. The fund's July outlook shows that the some countries are recovering from the pandemic faster than expected and others more slowly, with divergent vaccination rates the contributing factor.
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A healthcare worker prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination program on March 23, 202 in Sanur, Bali. (Reuters/Nyimas Laula)
T
he International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresees significant differences between countries in terms of how fast they will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, with richer countries benefitting from faster vaccination programs.
In its July outlook, the IMF revised its 2021 economic growth forecast for Indonesia down 0.4 percentage point to 3.9 percent.
The IMF made downward revisions to several other emerging economies. The fund made the steepest correction to its growth outlook for India, following the rapid and massive second wave of the coronavirus that battered the country from March to June.
By contrast, advanced economies saw the IMF revise their GDP growth outlooks upward by an average 0.5 percentage points.
Like other countries with worsened outlooks, including India and Malaysia, Indonesia has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The country has been experiencing a second wave since June, which was largely attributed to its slow vaccination rollout and the more transmissible Delta variant, as well as widespread travel in violation of the mudik (exodus) ban over the Idul Fitri holiday in May.
As of Friday, Indonesia had administered the first vaccine dose to 9.7 percent of its population or around 20.15 million people, while the share of people fully vaccinated with two doses was just 7.4 percent of the population or 26.66 million, according to Our World in Data (OWID).
