Minister of Finance Purbaya: The discussion on the widening of the State Budget Deficit above 3 percent is still being considered.

JAKARTA - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa responded to the issue that said the government was considering widening the limit of the State Budget (APBN) deficit to exceed 3 percent.

According to him, the discourse is still in the discussion stage.

"I don't know, I don't know, I'm still thinking about it," he told the media, Friday, March 13.

He explained that the government continues to calculate various factors that can affect the condition of the state budget, including fluctuations in world oil prices.

According to him, if it is decided to expand the deficit limit above 3 percent, the impact on the state budget will also be calculated in full.

"We always calculate the impact of the increase in world oil prices on our state budget so that later if necessary, one decision, we calculate the impact, that's all," he said.

Purbaya added that one of the reasons the government was cautious about raising the deficit limit was the potential assessment from international rating agencies.

He said the move could affect perceptions of Indonesia's fiscal condition.

However, he assessed that globally many countries have budget deficit rates above 3 percent.

"The consideration is whether if it breaks through (3 percent) the rating agency will give a negative assessment. Actually, if it is fair, our scale is a little below 3 percent, there are almost none. In fact, we are better, we spend close to 3 percent, our growth is faster than other countries," he said.

"Maybe Vietnam is higher than us, but about 4 percent. India is even higher, the deficit is 5 to 6 percent. So it should be if it's from Europe, it's all high. America, Korea, Japan," he added.

He emphasized that the government remained committed to implementing fiscal policy carefully and measuredly.

"So if it's just the numbers, there shouldn't be any problems. They just see something else from us that we are learning. But what is clear until now is that we will run the fiscal policy prudently," he said.

Purbaya also stated that if there is an order from President Prabowo Subianto to increase the deficit limit, the government is ready to implement the policy.

"(If Prabowo is okay, parliament is okay), I don't know. If the order is for us to carry it out. I'm just the president's hand," he explained.