Luhut: Agricultural Sector Takes Hit from Coronavirus Outbreak

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said the coronavirus outbreak increasingly causes worries for the Indonesian economy due to a significant drop in the visits of Chinese tourists to the country.

“[They are] forbidden [to enter Indonesia] so no Chinese tourist comes here. Bali is now quiet, and Singapore as well. [The visit] declines by 30 percent. No tourists in Manado and Bintan too,” said Luhut at his office, Jakarta, Monday, February 3.

Luhut revealed that the loss from the plummet in the country’s tourism sector due to the Wuhan virus reached tens of millions of US dollars per month.

In addition, he went on, the agricultural sector would also take hit as farmers relied on the mangosteen export to China, which is now the access is restricted because of the lockdown in a bid to reduce the potential spread of the virus. 

The Coordinating Minister predicted that China's economy would experience a correction of up to 3 percent from its current growth of around 6 percent.

“This case is so severe. When the SARS outbreak occurred, China’s GDP was corrected by 2 percent, and for [the current case], it would be 3 percent. That will trigger a huge impact,” he added.

Therefore, Luhut underlined that his party would seriously monitor the spread of the coronavirus in a bid to avert it from entering Indonesia and manage the domestic economy if it begins to be affected by the outbreak.

EKO WAHYUDI