The Indonesian Government declared a tax break for all manufacturers of PPE including N95 masks and gloves along with the makers of antiseptic hand sanitisers, ventilators, reagents for diagnostic tests of COVID-19 and disinfectants.

According to the country’s tax department’s website, manufacturers will be able to offset 30 per cent of their production costs for the months of March through September 2020 against their taxable income.

Earlier in March, the Indonesian Government had imposed a ban on exporting of 10 commodities, including antiseptics, PPE and raw materials to make surgical masks, in order to fight any paucity of necessity equipments in the country. However, they received a lot of backlash as the export ban would not only block Indonesia’s potential for further growth but also negatively affect Indonesia’s trade partners’ capacity to produce raw materials.

The decision was relaxed into export licensing quickly after a G20 meeting in late March regarding the decision to support trade and global supply chains.