Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said she is optimistic that Indonesia’s economy will show higher growth in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the year-ago period despite the increase in Omicron infections.

“We are quite optimistic that our economy in the first quarter of 2022 will not be heavily affected by the increase (in Omicron cases),” she stated at a press conference organized by the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) here on Wednesday.

Earlier, when the number of cases rose following the 2020 Christmas and 2021 New Year holidays, the government had enforced large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), which caused Indonesia’s economy to contract by 0.7 percent, she noted.

However, during the 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year holidays, the government implemented lighter community activity restrictions (PPKM) for preventing the entry of the Omicron variant, which still allowed people to run their business, she observed.

In addition, the government expedited the vaccination program by starting children’s and booster vaccinations, which are expected to strengthen national herd immunity, the minister said.

However, the public must keep implementing strict health protocols because if the virus transmission is curbed, the economic activities can still run, although businesses may be slightly weakened, she added.

“If the health protocols are maintained, the impact of the pandemic on the economic sector is expected not to be too severe, as previously seen in the first quarter of 2021,” the minister emphasized.

Furthermore, she said that Indonesia will continue to learn from other countries that experienced the first surge of Omicron cases in the fourth quarter of 2021 regarding the impact and handling of the variant.

“We hope that in the first quarter of 2022, our national economy will become increasingly stronger, so we can achieve the economic growth target of above 5 percent, in accordance with the target of State Budget (APBN) Law,” Indrawati added.

Source: Antara News