Indonesia’s Economic Recovery in 2021 Could be Hampered by New Strains of COVID-19

Novel COVID-19 variants in Indonesia, including sub-variants of B.1.617 (the Indian variant), are anticipated to weigh down on the country’s economic recovery in 2021; this may cause the Government of Indonesia to miss its economic growth target of between 4.5 to 5.3%.

Why it Matters?

According to Faisal Rachman, Economist at Bank Mandiri, the emergence of these new variants in Indonesia could lead to the Government tightening or extending mobility restrictions and limiting activities within the economy. This in turn, would lower consumer and business confidence and thereby slow down the recovery process.

Details

Soniza Zhu, an Associate Economist at Moody’s Analytics, stated that a surge in COVID-19 cases...