TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Chief of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) Sri Mulyani Indrawati conveyed that Indonesia's economic growth risks going down in 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee predicted Indonesia’s economy to grow by 2.3 percent in a severe scenario, and may go down by 0.4 percent in a very severe scenario.

"In a very severe scenario it could reach minus 0.4 percent," Sri Mulyani said in an online press conference with Bank Indonesia, the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, in Jakarta, on Wednesday, April 1, 2020.

Last year, Indonesia's economy was still able to grow 5.02 percent. In spite of this, the realized amount of economic growth remains lower than the predicted 5.3 percent, as stipulated in the 2019 State Budget (APBN).

Sri Mulyani added that all economic sectors will be affected and will experience a decrease. The growth of household consumption is likely to decrease from the 5 percent predicted in the APBN, to a range of 3.22 percent (severe scenario) to 1.6 percent (very severe scenario).

Furthermore, the investment growth is also likely to decrease from the 6 percent predicted in the APBN to 1.12 percent, or a minus 4.22 percent in a very severe scenario.

On top of that, export is predicted to go down from the predicted 3.7 percent, to a range of minus 14 to 15.6 percent. Imports are similarly predicted to go down from a predicted 5.3 percent, to a range of minus 14.5 to 16.65 percent.

This Financial System Stability Committee prediction has been delivered in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. As of yesterday, March 31, there have been 1,528 COVID-19 positive cases in Indonesia; 136 deceased and 81 recovered.

FAJAR PEBRIANTO | DIO SUHENDA (INTERN TRANSLATOR)