WL! Debt Withdrawal Drops Drastically Due To State Budget Surplus Of IDR 10 Trillion

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Finance reported that the state budget (APBN) until March 2022 recorded a surplus of IDR 10.3 trillion.

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said the book was much different when compared to the same period last year with a deficit of Rp. 143.7 trillion.

“This means turning from a deep negative to a positive at Rp10.3 trillion. What this means is that there is growth there which reached 107.2 percent from the previous year last year in March, the deficit is very deep," he said when speaking to the media crew online on Wednesday, April 20.

According to the Minister of Finance, a reversal also occurs when viewed from the perspective of the ratio to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

"So last year, we had a deficit of 0.8 percent of our GDP in March, while this year we still have a surplus of 0.06 percent of GDP," he said.

Based on the condition of the surplus position of the State Budget, debt financing was recorded to be able to fall sharply. Until the end of March 2022, the State Budget only spent Rp. 139.4 trillion for financing.

The score fell sharply by 58.1 percent when compared to last year, where debt financing was recorded at Rp332.8 trillion.

"Surplus and debt financing that fell sharply illustrates that our state budget is starting to recover its health, and this is good because the state budget is definitely needed for various things, such as shock absorbers, protecting the community, building infrastructure, supporting education, improving health, repairing defense equipment. All of that definitely need the state budget. So the state budget must be continuously maintained for its health," he explained.

Furthermore, the state treasurer revealed that with this surplus, the state budget still has a budget remaining of more than Rp. 149.7 trillion.

For this reason, fiscal instruments will continue to be balanced in three objectives that are all equally important, namely maintaining the health and safety of the people, maintaining health and economic recovery, and restoring the health of the state budget.

"That's the story from our APBN until March, which of course we must not be complacent and must be maintained, because even though the results are very good, the risk is still very high," closed the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.