JAKARTA - Former US vice president Joe Biden has won the country’s presidential election, defeating incumbent President Donald Trump in a tight race marred by controversy.
Ballot count as of Saturday (7/11) showed that Mr Biden, who served as vice president during Barack Obama’s presidency, won at least 290 electoral votes, while Mr Trump only won 214.
Mr Biden’s running mate is Senator from California Kamala Harris, who is the first woman ever elected as vice president in the US.
In his victory speech, President-elect Biden emphasised that he will lead the US in a time of healing after Mr Trump’s controversial presidency, especially as the country battles the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and has faced widespread protests against racial injustice this year.
“This is the time to heal in America,” Mr Biden said in his speech in his home state of Delaware.
“America has called upon us to marshal the forces of decency, the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope.”
In its analysis, Grant Thornton said that Mr Biden’s victory will create a great impact on the global economic map, particularly on the ongoing US-China trade war championed by the Trump administration, which Mr Biden will likely try to ease.
Additionally, Mr Biden has also promised to provide a bigger fiscal stimulus package totalling US$2.5 trillion from 2021 to 2024, which would also shape the global economy. “America providing a big stimulus package will have a significant impact on the rest of the world, including Indonesia,” Grant Thornton Indonesia writes in an official statement received by IDNFinancials.com, Sunday (8/11).
According to the professional services provider, Mr Biden’s success in easing trade tensions between the US and China would boost global commodity prices in general and maintain the stability of global financial markets, which naturally would benefit Indonesia’s exports and strengthen the rupiah exchange rate.
On the other hand, however, lesser tensions between the US and China could also affect investors’ plan to relocate their production facilities from China to other countries, which the Indonesian government has been depending on to attract foreign direct investment (FDI). If investors decided to not relocate their facilities from China, there could be a risk of disruption in FDI in Indonesia.
“Joe Biden’s victory is expected to bring positive sentiment to Indonesia’s economy with changes in the United States’ economic policy for the next four years, which will differ significantly from the current administration,” said Grant Thornton Indonesia Managing Partner Johanna Gani.
“Economic uncertainty due to the trade war and the pandemic in 2020 is expected to recover, with trade relations between Indonesia and the US becoming more stable and moving towards a more positive trend.” (MS)