IDR 1.895 Trillion is Money Disbursed by the Government to Handle COVID and Economic Recovery

Photo by Andika Febrian on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Special Staff to the Minister of Finance for Strategic Communication, Yustinus Prastowo, explained that the government has spent a very large budget for handling COVID-19 and economic recovery in the last three years. The figure reaches IDR 1,895 trillion.

In an official statement received in Jakarta, Yustinus Prastowo assessed that the enormous expenditure was not in vain and produced positive results, namely controlling the spread of COVID-19. Economic activity could resume pre-crisis levels in just one and a half years.

Indonesia is also able to maintain and optimize its economic potential by reaping lessons from the outbreak.

"We are also relatively able to maintain various indicators. Our inflation is maintained, some comparisons with ASEAN and G20 countries are quite good, the level of real gross domestic product (GDP) is quite good, and external stability is maintained", said Prastowo in the 2022 Government Performance Achievement dialogue, Saturday, October 22, quoted from Antara.

Indonesia is included as one of the countries with maintained inflation rates, both in ASEAN and the G20, namely in September 2022 at the level of 5.95 percent. In comparison, America's inflation reached 8.2 percent and Britain's 10.1 percent.

According to Prastowo, state revenue in 2022 managed to grow 49.8 percent after two years of declining performance due to COVID-19. This allows state spending to be realized quite large and better, such as for handling the pandemic, social assistance (bansos), and transfers to regions.

Even so, the debt ratio is often in the spotlight during the pandemic because many countries have increased their debt to deal with COVID-19. Indonesia's debt-to-GDP ratio had touched 41 percent, but now it has dropped to 38 percent.

Indonesia's Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was also maintained above 50, indicating an expansive industrial sector. This is a good stretch because Indonesia means importing raw materials and capital goods to meet domestic and export needs.

He mentioned that one of the important points of the economy is the trade balance because Indonesia managed to record a surplus 29 times in a row. In September 2022, the export value reached 24.8 billion US dollars, so Indonesia experienced a surplus of 4.99 billion US dollars.

“Our fiscal deficit is also relatively good compared to many countries that are struggling with economic recovery. Hopefully, this will be a good provision to welcome a more dynamic next year,” he said.