Reported by Arif Maulana
Translated by Winamora Dapa
[unpad.ac.id, 04/10/2020] Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business of Universitas Padjadjaran, Prof. Arief Anshori Yusuf, Ph.D., explained that the first step in restoring Indonesia’s economy from the brink of recession is to first solve the COVID-19 pandemic. That is because the recession that is happening in Indonesia is caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There won’t be any recession if the pandemic is solved,” said Prof. Arief in the ‘Understanding Recession and Constitution’ discussion which was held online by the Unpad Academic Senate on Saturday (3/10).
In tackling COVID-19, the government is very dependent on the effective result of phase III clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine by the Unpad research team. This is because vaccines are one of the ways to tackle COVID-19 cases in Indonesia.
“What is done by Prof. Kusnadi Rusmil (Head of Unpad’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial research team) is very important for Indonesia’s economy. The government seemed really depends on it,” said Prof. Arief.
Furthermore, this professor, who was once the Unpad’s Board of Professors Chairperson, explained that the re-easing of public mobility during the Adaptation of New Normal (AKB) is very risky. This effort is the government’s step in revitalizing economic activity.
On another side, the re-easing of public mobility will trigger new case clusters if it is not accompanied by strict regulations of health protocols. The rise of cases would affect economic growth again.
“If we do Large-scale Social Restrictions (LSSR) again, the economy will drop again,” said Prof. Arief.
Other than the optimization of pandemic management, Prof. Arief also recommended the optimization of economic stimulus by focusing on social protection. Many studies claimed that the social aid given by the government during the pandemic was valued more effective in boosting the economy.
“So, people will shop a lot, out of necessity,” he said.
Prof. Arief also emphasized that the government is expected to take this crisis as an opportunity to improve the adaptation of technology and to take account of the many weaknesses in the social protection system that is currently happening.
This discussion that was opened by Unpad Academic Senate Chairperson, Prof. Dr. Ganjar Kurnia, DEA., was also attended by one of the Unpad’s Professor of Faculty of Law, Prof. Susi Dwi Harijanti, Ph.D. Prof. Susi delivered a lecture regarding the constitutional system post-amendment of The Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia of 1945.*
You can read the original article in Indonesian here: https://www.unpad.ac.id/2020/10/guru-besar-unpad-paparkan-strategi-pemulihan-ekonomi-indonesia-dari-jurang-resesi/