APBN Deficit Widened Due To Covid-19, Sri Mulyani Discusses 13th Salary And ASN THR

Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani. (Mery Handayani / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) has made several considerations related to the payment of the 13th salary and holiday allowances (THR) for the State Civil Apparatus (ASN). This consideration was made because the country's financial burden is currently so large due to the corona virus pandemic or COVID-19.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that the recent COVID-19 has the potential to erode state revenues. Due to the decline in income, the 2020 state budget deficit is expected to swell to IDR 853 trillion or 5.07 percent of GDP.

Based on projections made by the Ministry of Finance, state revenue has even grown by minus 10 percent. Whereas initially in the 2020 State Budget it was projected to reach IDR 1,760.9 trillion. The decline was triggered by several factors, one of which was weakening income in the tax sector.

"At the start of our calculation of tax revenue, the rules are negative minus 5.4 percent," said Sri Mulyani, during a working meeting with Commission XI, in Jakarta, Monday, April 6.

Sri Mulyani revealed that Customs and Excise have also projected revenue to fall by 2.2 percent by taking into account the stimulus for exemption from import duties for 10 industries or 19 industries.

Not only that, according to Sri Mulyani, this was also triggered by the recent decline in world oil prices. This weakening has the potential to reduce the Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) up to 26.5 percent.

Unfortunately, in the midst of this decline in revenue, government spending has the potential to swell. The swelling was triggered by an increase in spending on health, social assistance and incentives from the business world.

"Our spending exceeds what is already in the APBN from Rp2,540 trillion previously, the outlook (increases) by Rp2,613 trillion," he said.

Discourse on Reducing Salaries and the ASN THR

Sri Mulyani explained, due to the widening state budget deficit and the increasingly heavier state financial burden, President Joko Widodo or Jokowi asked him to review the payment of the holiday allowance (THR) or salary-13 for ASN.

"The president asked us to make a study on payment, whether it needs to be reconsidered, given the rising state expenditure burden," he said.

Moreover, said Sri Mulyani, the state budget has also been disbursed to the business world as well as social assistance to reduce the impact of COVID-19. But unfortunately, he did not provide further details regarding the payment scheme for the 13th salary and THR to ASN, whether to reduce the amount or postpone the distribution.