Hooray! The State Budget Deficit Is Believed To Be Shrinking To 3.9 Percent By The End Of The Year

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Finance has set a fairly ambitious target in managing the 2022 State Budget by aiming for a budget deficit to be 3.9 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) for this year.

The Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the amount was more gentle compared to the provisions in the 2022 State Budget Law which was 4.85 percent. In fact, this latest outlook is sharper than the revised state budget posture in Presidential Decree 98/2022 which the government submitted to the DPR in mid-May by 4.50 percent.

"The declining APBN deficit and the efficiency of budget financing in 2022 will be positive capital for the fiscal consolidation process," he said while attending a working meeting with the DPR Banggar at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Friday, July 1.

In detail, the state treasurer explained that this outlook cannot be separated from the budget surplus in the first half of 2022. It was stated that until last June the total budget surplus reached Rp. 73.6 trillion.

To note, in Law Number 2 of 2020 concerning State Finances it is explained that the budget deficit must return to a normal level below 3 percent of GDP in 2023. Previously, the government was given space to widen the state budget by up to 5 percent to anticipate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic sector.

VOI noted that the discussion of the 2023 RAPBN between the government and the DPR designed a macro assumption of state spending of IDR 2,266.7 trillion to IDR 2,398.8 trillion next year.

Meanwhile, on the revenue side, it is projected to earn up to a value of IDR 1,884.6 trillion to IDR 1,967.4 trillion. This means that the budget deficit scheme will again slope according to the provisions below 3 percent of GDP.