GOVT TO GIVE BUSINESS, PUBLIC ADDITIONAL FISCAL STIMULI

Jakarta, Jan 14 (ANTARA) - The government has decided to give the business sector and the public additional fiscal stimuli under the 2009 state budget to strengthen their resilience in facing the present global financial challenges, a spokesperson said.

Acting coordinating minister for the economy Sri Mulyani Indrawati said at a press conference here Tuesday the amount of fiscal stimuli which had previously been set at Rp12.5 trillion would be increased by Rp15 trillion.
"The Rp12.5 trillion fiscal stimuli have already been provided in the 2009 state budget law and are to be given in the form of import duty and value added tax dispensations," she said after a cabinet meeting.
She said the additional fiscal stimuli which would be provided for in the revised 2009 state budget totaled Rp15 trillion.
"They include discounts in electricity tariffs as announced by the government on Monday and also a diesel fuel price subsidy given in the form of a price cut and additional expenditures totaling Rp10.2 trillion," Mulyani said.
The minister said the Rp10.2 trillion in fiscal stimuli would be especially given to ministries or institutions to create employment in the field of infrastructures or for programs considered effective or having a high priority level to alleviate poverty.
"We will further discuss the Rp10.2 trillion stimuli program with other ministers before submitting it to the House of Representatives," she said.
She said besides increasing employment, the fiscal stimuli
were also meant to promote medium-scale business activity, maintain the people's buying power, reduce the prices of medicines, cooking oil and commodities to reduce the people's economic burden.
She said the stimuli would also be given in the form of subsidy for value added tax, income tax, electricity tariff cut for industries, diesel fuel price cut and export financing and guarantee to strengthen the business sector so that it would have competitive power and businessmen's resilience.