Indonesia has increased tax incentives for businesses in a move to try and limit the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, its tax office said on Saturday.

Previously announced tax relief that was due to expire in September, has been extended until the end of the year, a statement said. They include tax breaks for some manufacturing workers and small and medium-sized enterprises, and a discount on corporate tax installments.

The government has also expanded the type of companies eligible to apply for the tax breaks, including, for example, forestry businesses in the scheme.

It has allocated nearly 50 billion U.S. dollars in state spending to fight the coronavirus pandemic. That, and a projected drop in fiscal revenues, are seen expanding its 2020 budget deficit by more than three times the government's original plan, to 6.34 percent of gross domestic product.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has previously said the tax breaks were meant to prevent "massive bankruptcies."

The government's forecast for the economy, Southeast Asia's largest, ranges between a 0.4 percent contraction and a one percent growth. It grew five percent last year.

On Saturday, Indonesia overtook China as the country with the most confirmed coronavirus cases in East Asia, with 84,882 infections and 4,016 deaths.

(Cover image: People wearing protective face masks are seen near closed street vendors booths at a traditional market amid the spread of the COVID-19 in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 4, 2020. /Reuters)