Country brings in FIVE-DAY weekend to boost economy after pandemic put ‘brakes on spending’
A COUNTRY has introduced an incredible five-day weekend to boost the economy after the pandemic but a “brake on spending”.
Indonesia has announced the plans which aim to encourage people to go out and splash their cash.
The countries government said its decision to extend the weekend an extra three days was to boost the economy with tourism and travel.
But there’s a catch – as the plan will only be in action for one week.
Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo declared Wednesday and Friday next week as holiday – while Indonesians will also enjoy a day off on Thursday to celebrate the Eid al-Adha festival.
This means that the lucky public will be able to enjoy an extra long five-day weekend next week, leaving the rest of the world green with jealousy.
The extra days of holiday apply to all civil servants across the country, but Bloomberg reported that private companies are likely to follow suit.
Indonesia’s stock exchange will also be shut for the entire five days.
“The holiday break should encourage the economy, especially in the regions and local tourism areas, to be better,” Widodo said on Wednesday.
“Because we saw that it could be extended, that was what we decided.”
But this isn’t the first time President Widodo has encouraged the country to spend their money in an attempt to boost the countries economy.
In February, Widodo asked Indonesians to save less money in order to spend more on shopping, concerts and sporting events in order to boost economic growth.
He had ordered the local authorities to approve permits for concerts and sporting events as soon as the government had lifted the Covid-19 restrictions that were in place at the time.
But the countries economy has continued to struggle following the pandemic, regardless of Widodo’s tactics.
Indonesia still suffers with high prices and increasingly slow job creation.
The President also revealed that there is around £39.5billion sitting in savings accounts at the moment because Indonesian’s had “hit the breaks” on spending post pandemic.
This comes after figures revealed that boozy Brits have helped boost the UK’s economy by 0.2 per cent.
The UK economy had shrank by 0.3 per cent in March.
And in the three months to April the economy grew slightly by 0.1 per cent.