Sri Mulyani Talks About The Budget Deficit, Signals The Era Of State Budget Surplus Ends In March?

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani Indrawati revealed that the government designed a budget deficit for 2023 in the range of Rp. 562.6 trillion to Rp. 596.7 trillion or 2.81 percent to 2.95 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

According to him, this step is in line with the mandate of Law 2 of 2020 which states that the state budget deficit in 2023 must return to below 3 percent of GDP.

"But at the same time, the state budget will continue to support economic recovery and also continue to support national development programs," he said after a cabinet meeting in Jakarta, quoted Friday, March 15.

The Minister of Finance revealed that state revenue is estimated to reach 11.28 percent to 11.76 percent of GDP or in the range of Rp. 2,255.5 trillion to Rp. 2,382.6 trillion.

Meanwhile, next year's state spending is designed to be in the range of 14.09 percent to 14.71 percent of GDP or between Rp. 2,818.1 trillion to Rp. 2,979.3 trillion.

"The state spending consists of central spending, which is between Rp. 2,017 trillion to Rp. 2,152 trillion, and transfers to regions which will range from Rp. 800 trillion to Rp. 826 trillion," he said.

The state treasurer added that in designing the APBN there were several things that needed to be considered, such as rising inflation and monetary tightening. This has an impact on the debt side that will be managed, both in terms of pressure on the amount of debt interest and the installments that must be paid.

"This is what we have to consider as part of designing the 2023 APBN to return to a deficit below 3 percent, namely so that the number of needs to issue debt securities can be reduced gradually but remain cautious," he explained.

From the fiscal side, continued the Minister of Finance, the State Budget will carry out reforms in the fields of state revenues, state expenditures, and financing by building more innovative financing.

"Therefore, for the 2023 APBN, we will continue to calibrate and sharpen the calculations for spending, both centrally and for transfers to regions, as well as estimates of state revenues," he stressed.

For information, in the first two months of the 2022 State Budget report, it was stated that the state's financial condition experienced a surplus of Rp. 28.9 trillion in January and Rp. 19.7 trillion in February, respectively.