Our State Budget Document January 2025 Has Suddenly Been Deleted, The Ministry Of Finance Has Not Provided An Explanation

Illustration (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

Previously, the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) had uploaded a report on the realization of the state budget (APBN) as of January 31, 2025, commonly known as the APBN Kita on the official website of the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

However, the document was immediately removed from the site after it was uploaded.

Adapun berikut link APBN Kita yang dihapus "https://media.kemenkeu.go.id/getmedia/6a2be568-8f6f-4b2a-b85d-8a4f7a337496/APBN-KiTa-Edisi-Februari-2025.pdf?ext=.pdf,"

Therefore, VOI tried to ask the Ministry of Finance for confirmation of this matter, but until this news was broadcast it had not received a response regarding this matter.

Head of the Communication and Information Services Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, Deni Surjantoro, has not provided an explanation regarding the reasons for removing the document.

Meanwhile, a press conference is usually held in the form of a KiTa State Budget report for each month and is also uploaded in the form of a KiTa State Budget document containing complete exposure, including data on revenue, expenditure, and portion of government financing as a form of public responsibility and fiscal transparency.

Previously, Deni said that the Ministry of Finance's schedule was still very busy so that it could not carry out this submission.

"We are still setting a schedule, the agenda is still tight. Just wait," Deni told VOI, Friday, March 7.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) Bhima Yudhistira said that the government is increasingly showing a lack of transparency regarding the state budget condition, which has the potential to reduce investor confidence levels after budget efficiency.

"The more it shows that the government is not transparent about the condition of the state budget. This will also reduce investor trust that after budget efficiency, problematic beliax and presence of Danantara, the government is increasingly closed. Regarding fiscal conditions," he told VOI.

Indef's macroeconomic and financial researcher, Riza Annisa Pujarama, estimates that many parties are also waiting for the release of the data, especially as the first quarter of 2025 is almost over in March.

Regarding the reasons for the unreleased data, Riza revealed that the government knows best. However, he suspects that this is related to budget efficiency efforts involving changes in the posture of the state budget, which require adjustments and updating risk calculations.

"I suspect this is related to the efficiency of the budget carried out, because it changes the posture of the apbn. So of course it needs to be adjusted to the apbn posture. In addition, the risk calculations need to be updated," he told VOI.

If the data is not released, said Riza, then the government's accountability and transparency will be questioned because the money managed by the government in the state budget is people's money.

He emphasized that the APBN should be transparent so that the people know how the funds are used, so that the public can monitor its use according to the goals that have been set.

"The state budget is people's money which is managed by the government, so the people should know what the money is used for with transparency, so the people can guard it so that its use is on the track," he said.