TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati predicted the Covid-19 pandemic will become endemic in 2022.

"So now we are preparing measures on how Indonesia will adjust the situation from pandemic to endemic," said Sri in an online press conference on Monday, August 16, 2021

Sri Mulyani's statement is in accordance with scientists' views about the future of the current pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently said that the world is nowhere near the end of the pandemic despite efforts at the state, regional, and global levels.

"Ninety-eight percent of scientists think Sars-CoV-2 will become endemic," said Sri.

She underlined that it must be prepared. Moreover, during the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) annual meeting on Monday, August 16, 2021, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that the government would continue to design policy responses based on data, facts, and experts' views.

Sri also said the economy in 2021 was projected to see a fairly strong recovery and will continue in 2022. However, the economic recovery will not run uniformly.

"Countries having vaccine access will see faster recovery, while other states that lack access to the vaccine will face challenges," she added.

The situation will also affect the economy. Sri Mulyani said that non-uniform economic recovery must be watched out for because it will cause complications in terms of policy response.

CAESAR AKBAR