Purbaya Claims Absorption of Ministry and Agency Spending Begins to Improve

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa revealed that the absorption of the ministry and agency (K/L) budget showed significant improvement towards the end of the year.

He added that the Ministry of Finance must work extra because of the many additional requests for budget from the K/L.

"Frankly, we (the Ministry of Finance) are a bit of a joke because they (K/L) keep asking for money, keep asking for money. So we control it a little," said Purbaya at the APBN KiTA press conference, quoted Friday, December 19.

According to Purbaya, this condition reflects the increasing readiness of the K/L in realizing the budget compared to the beginning of the year.

Even so, he emphasized that the government had not planned to make adjustments to the 2026 State Budget (APBN) posture.

"Moreover, they (K/L) are afraid that if they can't shop, I will cut the budget. So next year they will definitely be better (absorbing the budget). So we haven't adjusted the current APBN," said Purbaya.

On the other hand, there are also a number of K/L that return the remaining budget to the Ministry of Finance and until Tuesday, December 16, the value of the return was recorded at Rp. 4.5 trillion.

Despite this dynamic, Purbaya remains optimistic that Indonesia's economic growth can reach the target of 5.2 percent in 2025.

He even believes that economic growth has the potential to reach 6 percent in 2026, even though the official assumption of the government in the 2026 State Budget is at the level of 5.4 percent.

"Now I am turning on all the economic engines. The fiscal has started, the monetary has become more synchronized, the investment climate will be improved. I still see 6 percent is not an impossible figure for 2026, even though our assumption is at 5.4 percent," he concluded.

For information, the realization of state expenditures until the end of November 2025 reached Rp. 2,911.8 trillion, or 82.5 percent of the outlook for the first half of 2025 of Rp. 3,527.5 trillion.

The realization of state spending per November 2025 consists of central government spending recorded at Rp. 2,116.2 trillion or 79.5 percent of the outlook of Rp. 2,663.4 trillion, while the Regional Transfer (TKD) reached Rp. 795.6 trillion or 92.1 percent of the outlook of Rp. 864.1 trillion.