Indonesia’s restructured COVID-19 task force has a clear economic bias, and the downside risks remain high, wrote RSIS Senior Analyst Jefferson Ng in a commentary. The government first urgently needs to bring the virus situation under control and effectively roll out existing assistance schemes to help both the public health sector and ordinary Indonesians. If that can be accomplished, it will be possible for Indonesia to pull off a credible economic recovery program in late 2020 and 2021, he added.

…Jefferson Ng is a Senior Analyst, Indonesia Programme, at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.