Accused Of Tilting Silpa To Accumulate IDR 245 Trillion, Sri Mulyani Defends Herself At The Plenary Session

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Screenshot of the DPR RI Youtube)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, gave her views on the remaining excess of budget financing (Silpa) for the 2020 period which reached IDR 245.59 trillion. She conveyed this as part of the state procedure representing the government in the Plenary Session on the implementation of the 2020 State Budget for Fiscal Year.

“The government understands the board's concern for the large value of Silpa 2020 which has increased from the previous year. We can convey that the value of Silpa in 2020 with a value of IDR 245.59 trillion cannot be separated from the government's efforts to ensure the provision of a budget in a dynamic threat condition due to the COVID-19 pandemic", she said at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta, which was broadcast virtually, Tuesday, September 7.

According to the Minister of Finance, Silpa is an optimization of the utilization of funds from the issuance of Government Securities (SBN) in a cooperation scheme with Bank Indonesia (BI).

"In 2020, to ensure funding for handling COVID-19, the government will withdraw all remaining debt financing that receives burden-sharing from BI, both for public goods and non-public goods, amounting to IDR 574.59 trillion. From here, the government will get an interest rate of 0 percent for public goods and a BI rate of minus 1 percent for non-public goods spending”, she said.

The Minister of Finance added that apart from being used for the implementation of health care activities, financial support from the central bank was also deployed for the recovery of the national economy.

"At the end of the year we will still get the remaining funds that have not been absorbed, some of which are then used and are very useful for the needs of the vaccine procurement and vaccination program in early 2021", she said.

The Minister of Finance ensured that Silpa funds were still placed in banks to support banks and regional development banks (BPD) in the stimulus for small and medium enterprises.

"Last year's Silpa came from optimizing the use of funds with low-interest rates, which came from the SKBI (Joint Decree) of BI and the government", she added.

For information, in 2021 this Silpa will be used for handling pandemics in the health sector, namely financing vaccines and vaccination programs that reach IDR 57.75 trillion.

"Through Silpa, Indonesia was able to secure the national stock of vaccines that were much needed when facing the Delta variant attack in May, June, and July this year", she said.

In detail, the state treasurer explained that Indonesia had distributed more than 106.3 million vaccine injections to date. This effort makes Indonesia one of the six highest countries in the world in the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Then, the Minister of Finance also explained that Silpa funds are useful responsively and flexibly to support MSMEs which are still facing a heavy burden in 2021.

In addition to using Silpa to fund the 2021 PC-PEN Program, the government is also optimizing the use of Silpa to support the implementation of government programs in 2021 in other forms of financing, especially to reduce the amount of debt and make financing in 2021 more efficient", she said.

Meanwhile, the total utilization of Silpa in 2020 which will be used in 2021 is planned to reach IDR 139.4 trillion. The Minister of Finance ensures that the Silpa utilization policy provides certainty for the fulfillment of financing at controlled costs while maintaining the sustainability of state finances.

"In the future, the government remains committed to controlling Silpa in a measured and planned manner to mitigate fiscal risks in dealing with the pandemic and guarding the economic recovery. The government will continue to improve the quality of the implementation of the state budget, which is better and more accountable", she stressed.

The day before, during the discussion of the 2020 State Budget Accountability Bill Level I at the Budget Agency (Banggar), several factions highlighted the condition of the large remaining budget financing. One of the more vocal factions is the Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS).

"In 2020, Silpa is IDR 245.59 trillion or 9.46 percent of the total budget realization. A high Silpa means that the government's planning performance is still low", said PKS legislator, Muhammad Nasir Djamil, at the Budget Agency Working Meeting Monday, September 6, 2021.