The State Budget Deficit In August 2025 Is An Early Alarm To Watch Out For

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) reported a deficit in the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) as of August 2025 of IDR 321.6 trillion or 1.35 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Jakarta Veterans UPN Public Policy Economist and Expert Achmad Nur Hidayat said the deficit was still within safe limits, namely below the annual target of 2.53 percent of GDP.

He conveyed that there was an imbalance between state revenue and expenditure, where until August, state revenue had only reached 57 percent of the target, while spending had reached 55 percent of the ceiling and if this trend continued, the risk of widening the deficit at the end of the year would be real.

Achmad said that the APBN deficit as of August 2025 was not relatively worrying because it was still below the annual target, however, this is an early alarm that should not be ignored.

"However, this alarm should not be ignored. Without corrective steps, Indonesian fiscal ships can slow down or even fall in the middle of the global wave," he said in his statement, quoted Wednesday, September 24.

He conveyed that with quick and appropriate steps to strengthen revenue, accelerate productive spending, and manage debt wisely the state budget can still function as an effective stabilization instrument.

"Our fiscal ship still has a great opportunity to get to the port safely. However, the captain and crew must be united: refuel with optimal acceptance, maintain speed with productive spending, and read global wind directions with adaptive policies," he said.

Achmad said that there are several steps that can be taken immediately, including accelerating the realization of capital expenditures that have a multiplier effect on growth, such as infrastructure, irrigation, and labor-intensive projects.

Then, increase tax revenues through improving compliance and utilizing big data.

Upgrading efforts cannot only rely on tariffs, but must expand the tax base and improve the administrative system.

He conveyed that the last one was the efficiency of state spending by cutting less productive posts and shifting the budget to sectors that had a big impact socially and economically.