Gerindra Politician Rachel Maryam: Indonesia's Defense Budget Is Only 0.7 Percent Of GDP

JAKARTA - The draft Presidential Regulation on Fulfilling the Need for Defense and Security Equipment Equipment (Alpalhankam) of the Ministry of Defense and the Indonesian National Armed Forces for 2020-2024 for a period of 5 Strategic Plans or 25 years which reaches 124 billion US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 1,773 trillion with loans from abroad became a polemic after it was revealed to the public.

Member of Commission I DPR RI Gerindra faction Rachel Maryam revealed that the percentage of Indonesia's defense budget from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only 0.7 percent. This number is smaller than neighboring countries. "From the 2010-2020 state budget financial note data, Indonesia's defense budget is only 0.7 percent of GDP," Rachel Maryam said, as posted on the Gerindra Party's official Instagram account, quoted on Friday, June 4.

In fact, continued Rachel, a number of Indonesia's neighbors in Southeast Asia have a higher percentage of their defense budget compared to GDP. For example, Malaysia is 1 percent, Thailand is 1.3 percent, Brunei Darussalam is 2.4 percent, and Singapore is 3.1 percent. 3 percent while Indonesia, which has many times its territory, only has 0.7 percent of its defense budget," he said. Rachel hopes that the Draft Presidential Regulation (Raperpres) currently being discussed by the Ministry of Defense will be immediately submitted to the President and realized into a Presidential Regulation (Perpres).