Indonesia unveils signs of pickup in business

A worker wearing a face shield and protective mask use a tote bag to replace plastic at a supermarket, after the government has banned plastic bags from the stores and markets. - Reuters

JAKARTA, July 4 (Xinhua): The Indonesian central bank, Bank Indonesia, on Friday (July 3) unveiled some early signals of a pickup in business activities, playing down the wariness of possible recession this year.

The lender conceded that the novel coronavirus pandemic would further stretch deep the economy with a peak of the downturn in the second quarter, still the country's purchasing managers index (PMI) edged up 39.1 in June from 28.6 in May and 27.5 in April, Bank Indonesia's Deputy Governor Dody Budi Waluyo said on Friday.