Indonesia allocates almost 25 billion USD for COVID-19 combat

In Jakarta, Indonesia (Photo: AFP)

Hanoi (VNA) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo on March 31 announced a 24.75-billion-USD spending to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Widodo said he had signed an emergency government regulation in lieu of law, which will allow the government to edge up development budget deficit, and increase the spending for efforts to curb the COVID-19 spread.

The President said that the sum would also be used for the spending of economic stimulus, including a 3 percentage point deduction in the corporate tax rate to 22 percent, and social welfare programmes.

The government regulation in lieu of law will take effect immediately, but it needs endorsement from the parliament to become a law.

The new rule will be effective for three years, starting from this year./.