At The World Islamic Forum, Sri Mulyani Shares Experiences In Managing The State Budget During A Pandemic

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA – Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani revealed a number of efforts made by the government when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group Annual Meetings seminar forum.

The Minister of Finance explained that the pandemic that began to spread two years ago started with a health problem, then became a social problem, and had an impact on the financial sector.

"To stop the domino effect, the APBN is a very important instrument in providing support for economic recovery, as well as being a shock absorber that protects the public from various economic shocks," he said in an official statement quoted on Monday, June 6.

According to the Minister of Finance, under these extraordinary conditions, the government drafted Perppu Number 1 of 2020 which later became Law Number 2 of 2020. This regulation provides a strong legal basis so that the government can be more flexible, responsive and anticipatory in handling the pandemic.

"The unique thing about Indonesia is that we designed that this pandemic and all the extraordinary measures that we will implement to help people in terms of health, social, and small and medium enterprises are only possible for three years," he said.

The state treasurer added that this policy could not be carried out continuously so the government needed to carry out fiscal consolidation to restore the state budget.

“We have to ensure that the impacts caused by the pandemic will be compensated and we must return to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Reducing poverty in terms of access to health, education services, and as a social safety net. Those are the three things that are most important to us."

Furthermore, he explained that the road to achieving the SDGs would not be easy because new challenges would arise, such as rising food and energy prices due to geopolitical conflicts. As a policy maker, the government must ensure that its policies and instruments will continue to be ready.

“When the economy is good, you have to make sure that the fiscal tools will be ready and healthier. When conditions are particularly bad, you use up all the space to limit shock damage. Again, every space owned, really must ensure that it is used in a timely, flexible, but also accountable manner. Good governance is very important," closed the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.