Strict PSBB Reinstatement Invokes Protests from Ministers

Several ministers questioned the decision of Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, which reinstate strict quarantine starting September 14, 2020. Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang, and Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto expressed their critics to Jakarta's Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) in the National Meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), Thursday (9/10).

Airlangga, who also serves as the Chairman of the COVID-19 Handling Committee and National Economic Recovery, blamed the PSBB re-implementation as the cause of the plummeting Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) in the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). "Because the Jakarta governor's announcement, it (JCI) fell below 5,000 this morning," he said. Airlangga asked that the policymaking should not disturb public trust. Agus Gumiwang is also concerned that social restrictions at the end of the third quarter will put pressure on the manufacturing sector.

In the ceremonial handover of the Micro and Small Business Permit (IUMK), the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan said that Rp300 trillion worth of market capitalization was erased from the capital market due to the PSBB announcement. He insinuated Anies that he did not need to declare that the treatment facilities would collapse because they could no longer accommodate patients. Luhut argued that that there are still rooms left to accommodate COVID-10 patients. "Do public communication well, give optimism carefully," he said.