Jakarta (VNA), April 1 -- Indonesia's President Joko Widodo announced on March 31 that the country will provide free electricity and discounts for poor households to help them cope with the economic shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said state-owned electricity company PLN would supply free electricity for three months starting from April for 24 million households in the 450-volt ampere (VA) category - the lowest out of six categories listed under existing regulations.

PLN will also provide a 50 percent discount for 7 million households in the 900 VA category - the second lowest - for the same three months.

Public health is the government's top priority, the President said in a media telebriefing.

The second priority is prepa...