Sri Mulyani Opens Up: The State Budget Has Been Prepared To Face The Pandemic Situation Becomes Endemic

JAKARTA - The government has again sent a signal that the COVID-19 pandemic situation is likely to become endemic. This time, the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani conveyed this.

According to him, the uncertainty that cannot be predicted when it will end has forced people to live side by side with COVID-19.

"This aims to prepare from a pandemic situation to an endemic," he said at a virtual press conference, Thursday, September 23.

The Minister of Finance added that all countries, including Indonesia, were preparing a roadmap to immediately realize this even though the conditions faced were unprecedented.

"All countries are taking this step, by designing (pandemic to be endemic) including Indonesia," he said.

The state treasurer admitted that he was designing state finances to support it in terms of the budget.

"We are trying to see how the impact will be on what communities still need support, that's what we have to pay attention to," he said.

To note, Indonesia has responded to the pandemic situation in the past two years by providing an Economic Recovery (PEN) budget.

For the whole of 2020, the state is said to have spent IDR 579.78 trillion of the total PEN funds provided of IDR 695.2 trillion.

This year, the PEN budget has increased from a ceiling of Rp. 699 trillion to Rp. 744.75 trillion. This growth is intended as a cushion for the outbreak of the COVID-19 delta variant some time ago.