Minister Of Finance Sri Mulyani Makes Minister Johnny Plate Sumringah: The Ministry Of Communication And Information's Budget Continues To Increase

Minister of Communication and Information Johnny Plate (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the government was still intensifying the development of information technology infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to strengthen the national technology structure. This, he said, had implications for the commitment to budget provision in the current year's APBN.

According to the Minister of Finance, one of the implementations of this commitment is to increase the budget at the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo) in the last few years.

“The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is one of the few ministries/agencies whose budgets have continued to increase in the last three years. In 2020, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics budget is Rp. 20 trillion, up 73 percent from the previous year which was only Rp. 5.3 trillion. Then for 2021 it will grow again to Rp26 trillion and in 2022 to Rp27 trillion," he said through an online channel on Wednesday, August 3.

The Minister of Finance added that a large number of these funds were intended for the construction of technological facilities and infrastructure throughout Indonesia.

“There can be no digital transformation and also digitalization if the infrastructure is not built. We will continue to build base transceiver stations or BTS with 4G technology in 4,200 villages. This is all so that development in the outermost, underdeveloped and frontier regions becomes a priority so that they can also enjoy the digital transformation that exists in Indonesia," he said.

Citing the report from the Ministry of Finance in the realization of the State Budget for the first semester of 2022, it is known that the budget absorption of the Ministry of Communication and Information until June 30 was Rp. 5.8 trillion. This amount is higher than the achievement for the same period in 2021 from the agency led by Minister Johnny Plate of Rp. 4.3 trillion.

"Digitalization clearly has very broad benefits and the State Budget will always be an important instrument in building the foundation of digitalization transformation in Indonesia," concluded Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.