Sri Mulyani Is Blunt, Jokowi Wants The 2023 State Budget Like This

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani (right) talks with President Jokowi (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani has just received the final direction from President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) regarding the preparation of the 2023 State Budget (APBN) before the reading of the Financial Note at the DPR on August 16 next.

In his statement, the Minister of Finance said that the 2023 RAPBN was designed in a situation where the global economy was experiencing shocks and turmoil, as well as very high uncertainty.

Therefore, he strives for this fiscal instrument to be able to maintain flexibility in managing economic turmoil and global uncertainties that occur.

“This we often refer to as a shock absorber. However, on the other hand, the President also requested that the State Budget be maintained so that it remains credible and sustainable or healthy, so this is a combination that must be strengthened," he said in a press statement quoted on Wednesday, August 10.

According to the Minister of Finance, it is believed that the world's economic conditions will continue to weaken throughout 2022 with rising inflation.

The projection is in line with the forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has lowered its global economic growth target from 3.6 percent to 3.2 percent for this year and from 3.6 percent to 2.9 percent for 2023.

“This means that our global environment will weaken while inflationary pressures increase. According to the IMF, this year inflation will rise to 6.6 percent from the side in developed countries, while inflation in developing countries will be at the level of 9.5 percent,” he said.

The Minister of Finance added that the President also gave orders regarding the 2023 State Budget deficit which must be below 3 percent but still be sustainable.

For this reason, in terms of state spending, the Minister of Finance will continue to support various national priorities, namely the development of human resources as the main priority, then infrastructure development including the Capital of the Archipelago (IKN), and the holding of elections.

"We will use central and regional expenditure instruments to be able to support various national priority programs and also in terms of financing such as the accumulation of the Education Endowment Fund which will continue to be managed," he said.

Furthermore, in terms of state revenues, Sri Mulyani said, what was of concern was that very high tax revenues from commodities might not be repeated next year. The same applies to customs receipts.

"So these are the last directives from the President before we finalize," concluded Sri Mulyani.