Sri Mulyani Optimistic That The Budget Deficit Is Lower Than The Target, The State Budget Is Called Healthier

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) has set a budget deficit target for this year at 4.85 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani revealed that this amount was lower than the deficit target for the 2020 and 2021 periods.

However, the state treasurer is optimistic that the realization of the budget deficit throughout 2022 is likely to be lower than the previously targeted target.

In the explanation of the Minister of Finance, it was stated that the realization of the APBN until the end of May 2022 recorded a surplus of Rp. 132.2 trillion, equivalent to 0.74 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

"So with this result, we all hope that at the end of the year the 2022 State Budget deficit can decrease significantly," he said when giving a statement to the media crew quoted on Sunday, June 26.

According to the Minister of Finance, this condition also affected the realization of debt financing which reached Rp. 90.97 trillion or 9.3 percent of the APBN ceiling, consisting of SBN (Net) of Rp. 75.26 trillion and loan realization (Net) of Rp. 15.71 trillion.

Meanwhile, the realization of BI purchases through SKB I in 2022 was Rp. 32.241 trillion, consisting of SUN SKB I of Rp. 17.160 trillion and SBSN SKB I of Rp. 15.081 trillion.

"This shows that the government is also continuing to strive for the health of the state budget to recover," he said.

For information, in the 2022 State Budget Law, the government estimates that the target for state expenditure is Rp. 2,714.2 trillion with a projected income of Rp. 1,846.1 trillion. This means that the budget deficit is estimated to reach Rp. 868 trillion or 4.85 percent of GDP.

As for starting next year, the government is required to bring the budget deficit back to a normal level below 3 percent in accordance with the mandate of Law Number 2 of 2020 concerning State Financial Policy.