Jokowi Says COVID-19 Rise Could Worsen National Economy

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has asked stock market players to remain alert as a rise in the COVID-19 transmission rate could worsen the national economy in the third quarter of 2021.

"Since the beginning of July (2021), the increase in COVID-19 confirmed cases has forced us to enforce more restrictions which have impacted our national economy,” he remarked at the 44th anniversary of the Indonesian capital market's reactivation here on Tuesday.

However, he said that he believes the domestic stock market can still grow. During the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), the value of daily transactions at the national stock exchange crossed Rp7.5 trillion, he pointed out.

Furthermore, after the PSBB ended and community activities restrictions (PPKM)  were enforced, the daily transaction value still rose to Rp13.1 trillion, he noted and called on all stakeholders to maintain the growth momentum.

"We have to make various attempts to maintain the growth -- increase public trust in the capital market; accelerate digitization; improve service quality; as well as enforce firm and transparent regulations. We have to enhance our national economic ecosystem together," he emphasized.

The President also lauded the significant rise in the number of investors as of July 2021, noting most were domestic and millennial investors. This will strengthen the domestic capital market to face pressures in future, he said.

"Moreover, our number of initial public offerings have remained the highest in ASEAN. It has been our achievement for four consecutive years," Jokowi added.

In the second quarter of 2021, Indonesia emerged from an economic recession to clock 7.07 percent year-on-year growth. It was the nation's first positive growth in five consecutive quarters.

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