Indonesia Highlights: Indonesia in Recession | Nearly 10M Indonesians Jobless | Indonesia Extends Financial Partnership with Singapore

KOMPAS.com – The much-anticipated US presidential election result was quickly overshadowed in Indonesia as the country officially enters an economic recession.

While world leaders are waiting for official word on who will lead the world’s largest economy, Indonesian authorities have been on alert as boycotts against French products heat up nationally.

Indonesians are infuriated over French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement deemed blasphemous to the religion of Islam that has since sparked fury in many Muslim countries.

The Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police has stepped up security at a number of the capital city’s shopping centers and malls as a precautionary step should the situation worsen.

More important news about Indonesia on Thursday are highlighted below:

Shutterstock/Melimey

1. Indonesia Enters a Recession

Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has announced that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2020 contracted 3.49 percent year on year officially putting Indonesia in a recession.

The economic contraction in the third quarter was less severe than in the previous quarter when Indonesia saw its GDP contract 5.32 percent.

Head of BPS Suhariyanto said that the Indonesian economy in the third quarter was valued at Rp 3,894 trillion ($270 billion) based on current prices, while GDP at constant prices of 2010 was at Rp 2,720.6 trillion ($189 billion).

Besides Indonesia, other countries that have suffered economic recession include the US, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, the EU, and Hong Kong.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected the global economic growth to contract by up to 4.4 percent.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2020/11/05/183122174/indonesia-faces-recession-as-economy-shrinks-349-percent-in-q3 

KOMPAS.com/GARRY LOTULUNG

2. 9.77 Million Indonesian Workers Unemployed from Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has sent Indonesia's unemployment rate soaring with nearly 10 million workers jobless.

BPS data shows that in August 2020, an additional 2.67 million workers in Indonesia were furloughed raising the national unemployment figures to 9.77 unemployed citizens.