LiputanIslam.com— The government predicted economic growth in the third quarter of 2020 would contract. This means that a recession is before our eyes because Indonesia has experienced negative economic growth for two consecutive quarters.
Executive Director of the Indonesian Center of Reform on Economics (Core) Mohammad Faisal said a recession could trigger a large wave of layoffs. With a massive wave of layoffs, people’s income and purchasing power will be more eroded. Therefore, according to him, the government must be alert to provide various social assistance to the community.
Read: Indonesia Confirmed to Experience Recession, This is the Impact on Society
“The government must respond by expanding the coverage of social assistance, increasing the allocation and accelerating the distribution,” said Faisal, Wednesday (23/9).
He said that government assistance should be able to target the wider community, especially those who got most affected by the pandemic such as micro, small and medium enterprises (UMKM). The number of micro-entrepreneurs reaches 63 million. However, the cash assistance for micro-entrepreneurs is only targeted at 12 million.
“Whereas the total number of micro-entrepreneurs reaches 63 million,” he said.
In addition, assistance for workers with an income below Rp 5 million must be able to target informal workers because the program relies on the data from formal workers.
In line with Faisal, economist Indef Bhima Yudhistira said that the government must immediately increase the number of BLT recipients for unemployed, layoff victims, and informal workers.
“The BLT nominal must be bigger than before. Ideally, Rp 1.2 million per person per month for three to six months, “he said. (sh/temp/cnnindonesia)