2024 State Budget Deficit 2.29 Percent, Economist Reveals Government Has PR To Improve State Revenue

Indonesian Center of Reform on Economic (CORE) economist Yusuf Rendy Manilet. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) noted that the 2024 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) has a deficit of IDR 507.8 trillion or 2.29 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This realization is equivalent to 97.1 percent of the 2024 State Budget target of IDR 522.8 trillion.

However, the deficit in 2024 of 2.29 percent of GDP is greater than the deficit in 2023 of 1.67 percent.

Indonesian Center of Reform on Economic (CORE) economist Yusuf Rendy Manilet assessed that the main factor that causes the 2024 State Budget deficit to be relatively higher than 2023 is the normalization of commodity prices.

According to Yusuf, in 2023 the increase in commodity prices will have a significant impact on state revenues, while by 2024, the prices of several commodities have returned to normal levels, affecting revenue growth, especially from the tax sector.

In addition, Yusuf said that in 2024 the government will also hold presidential elections, simultaneous regional elections, as well as large programs such as infrastructure spending that will increase government spending.

"If we pay attention to last year, the government also held a political year, resulting in a relatively higher increase in spending compared to the shopping position in 2023," he said in his statement, Tuesday, January 7.

In terms of revenue, Yusuf said that the government still has homework, especially in increasing tax ratios.

According to him, several programs, such as the implementation of core tax administration and tax reform, need to be monitored continuously so that revenue performance can be balanced with the increasing realization of spending as a result of several programs in the new government.

Regarding new programs, Yusuf said that such as free nutritious feeding, the government needs to ensure that there are ongoing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms so that the program can achieve optimal goals and budgets that are allocated on target.

"Especially from new programs such as free nutritious eating programs so that the goals of this program can be achieved optimally and every rupiah spent from the APBN for this program can also meet the targets that the government really wants to target," he explained.

In addition, Yusuf said that the 2025 State Budget must also be able to anticipate the impact of global economic uncertainty, which is influenced by factors such as conflicts in the Middle East and international policies, including the potential impact of President Trump's re-elected policies.

All of these things will affect the global economy and the Indonesian state budget.