Despite The Surplus State Budget, Sri Mulyani Still Investigates IDR 104.7 Trillion Debt Until March 2024

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani Indrawati said that the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) still recorded a surplus until March 2024. However, the realization of financing through debt issuance (neto) until March 2024 amounted to IDR 104.7 trillion.

"Although our state budget was still in surplus, the management of financing including the issuance (published) of our state securities was based on a 1 year strategy. We see that financing was realized Rp. 104.7 trillion," Sri Mulyani said at the KiTa State Budget press conference, Friday, April 26.

According to Sri Mulyani, the debt withdrawal decreased by around 53.6 percent compared to the previous year which reached Rp225.4 trillion.

In detail, the realization of debt financing came from state securities (SBN) amounting to Rp. 104 trillion or equivalent to 15.6 percent of the APBN or a decrease of 52.2 percent (yoy) from Rp. 217.6 trillion.

Meanwhile, the realization of loans reached Rp600 billion or 3.4 percent of the state budget, down 91.9 percent (yoy) from the previous Rp7.8 trillion.

Sri Mulyani explained that the decline in debt withdrawals was caused by a number, namely, the trend of weakening the Rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar and the trend of high interest rate policy.

"We will continue to be aware of all of this and will determine the direction of our financing," he said.

Sri Mulyani said the government would remain cautious in withdrawing new debts by paying attention to the current situation in the development of the global economy.

"In our financing department, we will continue to manage prudently, carefully, and we carry out quite pragmatic and opportunistic strategies, so that we can choose the right timing," he concluded.

For information, the 2024 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) scored a surplus of IDR 8.1 trillion until the end of March 2024 or equivalent to 0.04 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

"The surplus recorded a surplus of IDR 8.1 trillion until the end of March 2024, this is equivalent to 0.04 percent of GDP," he said.

Sri Mulyani explained that the APBN surplus at the end of March 2024 came from state revenues of Rp620.01 trillion. This realization reached 22.1 percent of the 2024 State Budget target.

Meanwhile, the realization of this state revenue also decreased by 4.1 percent from the same period last year, or year on year (yoy).