Sri Mulyani Talks To The House Of Representatives About Debt That Is Often A Political Commodity: Often Become Hoax And Responded To By People With Emotional

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

JAKARTA - In a question and answer session in a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani gave a stern statement on the country's debt which is often a political commodity.

According to him, the loan case should be seen from the overall structure of the state budget and not just some of the material that was then exploited.

"This is often a political phenomenon, which is talked about only debt issues. We expect that if we talk debt in a political context then it should be overall, including how its policy in the state finances," he said at the Parliament Complex Senayan, Monday, May 24.

The Minister of Finance added that macro-financial countries consist of many aspects and not only focus on the instruments of government obligations.

"State finances are many components, such as receipts, there are also central and local government spending, there is financing as well. Well, there is also financing in the form of investments and some are financing debt funds," he said.

Therefore, the Minister of Finance and his ranks strive to present a comprehensive state budget posture so as to avoid narrow views from one particular aspect only.

"We try to always present to the public the overall posture, so that the person does not see a piece that is then used as a topic," he added.

In fact, he continued, the framing is now considered to have rolled quite wildly and often has a less unpleasant tendency.

"If in this era there are also those who fall into the category of hoaxes, some respond emotionally, and some even come to hate," he said.

In its analysis, such conditions occur due to a lack of understanding of the financial structure of the country in depth resulting in an inappropriate interpretation.

"It usually takes a topic and that's all that's being exploited. The task of all of us is to keep the public so that the public can get the whole information so that it does not arrive because the political element becomes allergic to certain financial instruments because it has been discussed that is not good," explained the Minister of Finance.

For information, in the previous VOI report external debt (external debt) at the close of the first quarter of 2021 was recorded to decrease to 415.6 billion US dollar. This figure is claimed by Bank Indonesia (BI) better than the closing of 2020 of USD417.5 billion or reduced by 0.4 percent.

"The development is driven by the decline in the government's external debt position," bi Communications Department Head Erwin Haryono said in an official statement on Friday, May 21.

In detail, the position of government external debt in the first quarter of 2021 was 203.4 billion. While the remaining approximately 209.4 billion US dollars is private external debt. That is, the value of government liabilities is smaller than the overall foreign debt of Indonesia.