The Ministry of Finance is confident that the Indonesian economy will continue to grow even though the Strait of Hormuz has been closed.

Director General of Economic and Fiscal Strategy (DJSEF) of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) Febrio Kacaribu. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Director General of Economic and Fiscal Strategy (DJSEF) of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) Febrio Kacaribu is optimistic that Indonesia's economy will continue to grow despite disruptions in the commodity supply chain due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict between the United States and Israel with Iran.

He said the Ministry of Finance would implement a government spending strategy that was evenly distributed throughout the quarter in order to continue to drive national economic growth.

"We want the economic growth to be more even throughout the year, where the government's spending is also more even," said Febrio Kacaribu at the APBN KiTA March 2026 Conference in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Thursday, March 12.

Furthermore, he said the Ministry of Finance is trying to realize the government's spending budget faster, so that it is hoped that economic growth will remain maintained to achieve the target of an increase of 5.4 percent year-on-year (yoy) by the end of 2026.

He said the realization of state spending was recorded at Rp493.8 trillion or 12.8 percent of the target, jumping 41.9 percent year-on-year as of February 28.

"The receiving side also makes it very possible for us to do that (accelerate spending), (because) the growth for taxes is above 30 percent," said Febrio.

The Ministry of Finance noted that tax revenue grew 30.4 percent year-on-year to Rp245.1 trillion, or 10.4 percent of the target, as of the end of February 2026.

Through this accelerated spending, the Ministry of Finance hopes that economic growth in the first quarter of 2026 will be strong enough, continuing the momentum of growth from the fourth quarter of 2025 which reached 5.39 percent year-on-year.

"With (the previous quarter's growth of) 5.39 percent (yoy), later we hope (growth) can be at 5.5 percent or more in the first quarter of 2026, the momentum of economic growth we also hope will continue," he said.

In addition to accelerating spending, the government has also provided various economic stimuli to encourage the movement of the wheels of the economy from various sectors in the country, especially during the Eid al-Fitr holiday period.

Febrio said the government had announced a 30 percent discount on train tickets, a 30 percent discount on the basic fare for sea transport tickets, a 100 percent elimination of port service tariffs for crossing transport, and a discount on plane tickets.

In addition, there is also food assistance in the form of rice for the I to IV village groups, which amounts to 35 million beneficiaries and the distribution of Eid Allowance (THR) for the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) which has reached Rp. 24.7 trillion as of March 10, 2026.

"We hope (the distribution of THR) will also greatly encourage people's purchasing power during Ramadan and also before Eid al-Fitr, and of course it is part of (efforts to increase) people's spending in the first quarter (2026) and the first quarter economic growth (2026)," he added.