The Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, promised a better economy for the next two years. (Image via Berita Satu)

Anies: Jakarta's economy reached -2 percent in 2020

The Governor of Jakarta, Anies Baswedan, projected the capital's economic growth would be around -1.6 to -2 percent in 2020. However, the Governor assured that the economic growth will be better next year.

Speaking during the virtual Regional Development Planning Forums (Musrembang) on the Revision of 2017-2022 Mid-term Regional Development Plan (RPJMD) on Tuesday, the former Education and Culture Minister stated that the slump of Jakarta's economy this year was affected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The pandemic forced the government to implement the Large-Scale Social Distancing (PSBB) that limits people's activity and mobility, hence the supply and demand decreased significantly and the economy was hit hard. For your information, in Q3 of 2020, Jakarta's economy faced a 3.82 percent contraction. Cumulatively, it means Jakarta's economy went -2.38 percent for January - September 2020.

While Jakarta's economy faced serious contractions this year, Anies promised the growth will rise again in the next two years. Quoting the projection by the Bank of Indonesia (BI), Anies stated that Jakarta's economy will see 4.5 - 5% growth in 2021, caused by the alleviation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, in 2022, Anies projected that the economy will be even better with 5.8% - 6.2% growth.

To prepare for 2021, Anies revealed that the Jakarta Government has prepared more funds for the 2021 regional budget (APBD). In total, Anies prepared Rp84.19 trillion, up by 33.14 percent from the ceiling of the 2020 APBD's Revision at Rp63.23 trillion. Previously, Jakarta's Budget was once suppressed due to COVID-19 when the government distributes social assistance(Bansos) for its people. Amid the pandemic, the APBD was cut from Rp87.85 trillion to Rp63.23 trillion.

Source: https://bit.ly/2KOKzeZ