Ministry Of Defense Proposes A Budget Of IDR 350 Trillion In 2024

Deputy Minister Of Defense M. Herindra/ANTARA/Narda Margaretha Sinambela

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Defense (Kemhan) has proposed a budget of IDR 350 trillion in the indicative ceiling for the 2024 fiscal year (TA).

"Today's discussion is about the budget that we will receive in 2024, especially for the Ministry of Defense and the TNI. We are proposing a plan for the need of Rp. 350 of a total of trillion," said Deputy Minister of Defense (Wamenhan) M. Herindra as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 7.

However, the indicative ceiling given to the Ministry of Defense in 2024 is IDR 123 trillion. The ceiling will be divided for the Ministry of Defense, TNI Headquarters, Army, Air Force, and Air Force.

"But only Rp123 trillion has left the ceiling," he continued.

According to Herindra, the realization of the Ministry of Defense's budget absorption has reached 90 percent.

"Our budget absorption, if it is already quite good, is above 90 percent of everything," he added.

Therefore, he continued, the Ministry of Defense will continue to strive to carry out minimum basic force (minimum essential force) in order to accelerate the process of modernizing the main tools of the Indonesian defense system. The reason is, according to Herindra, the ceiling received by the Ministry of Defense is still considered far too far from the proposed budget.

"The indicative ceiling is about 40 percent of our budget plan of around Rp. 300 trillion," he said.

He emphasized that Indonesia as the largest archipelagic country in the world needs strong defense to face all threats in the maritime sector. This is the reason the Ministry of Defense has proposed a budget of IDR 350 trillion in 2024.

"We want to make defense strong because our country is big. So to maintain state sovereignty, we must have a strong TNI," he said.

Meanwhile, member of Commission I of the House of Representatives Dave Akbarshah Fikarno explained that the indicative ceiling approved by the DPR RI must be adjusted to the economic capabilities and strategic projects as well as the Government's targets at large.

"Our budget is around Rp. 2,000 trillion, there must be adjustments and later other sources can be found to catch up," saidDave.