Sri Mulyani: Spending in the 2023 State Budget Will Focus on Maintaining Price Stability and Protecting the Community

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

JAKARTA - The Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, said that the role of the 2023 State Budget would be optimized to protect society and the economy from various shocks. According to her, fiscal policy also focuses on maintaining price stability and protecting people's purchasing power.

Minister of Finance explained that this year's State Budget (APBN) allocates a food security budget of IDR 92.3 trillion and IDR 104.2 trillion is planned for 2024.

"Even though the price of fuel overseas can increase up to three times, in Indonesia fuel prices will only increase by 30 percent because we have allocated compensation subsidies of IDR 551.2 trillion in 2022 and IDR 339.6 trillion in 2023", she said in a press statement after accompanying the President. at the National Coordination Meeting of Regional Heads in Bogor, Tuesday, January 17.

The Minister of Finance also revealed that transferring funds to the regions also plays an important role in protecting the public and controlling inflation.

In her notes, in the 2022 State Budget, there was an increase in state spending by 10.9 percent, including transfers to regions which increased by IDR 304.3 trillion compared to the previous period.

Apart from that, there was also an increase in state revenue by 30.5 percent or IDR 615 trillion, so the State Budget deficit decreased to 2.38 percent of GDP.

"This is much smaller than the initial plan of 4.5 percent or in this case, our deficit has decreased by IDR 310.7 trillion", she said.

The state treasurer claims that the economy in the region has also started to improve as indicated by the increase in local revenue (PAD) originating from taxes, including taxes on entertainment, restaurants, hotels, and parking.

"This means that in the regions the activity is increasing with implications for inflation. If people start their activities and start consuming, then prices will increase. This is what we must prevent. When the community starts carrying out activities, the production or supply, and distribution side become very important", she said.

Minister of Finance said that at the beginning of 2023, the State Budget chose an optimistic but cautious approach. It was stated that it was necessary to make several improvements in the use of the APBN and APBD to maintain economic performance, and inflation, as well as protect the public.

"That's for social assistance. The government has allocated around IDR 476 trillion at the central level, while local governments had IDR 19 trillion last year. It can provide a combination so that purchasing power, extreme poverty, and stunting can be reduced quickly", she said.

For this reason, the Minister of Finance advised all regional governments as well as ministries and institutions to remain vigilant, especially against geopolitical threats, and not to engage in corruption.

"Good spending will certainly have an extraordinary impact because more than IDR 3,060 trillion will be spent this year. Of course, we also hope that all central and regional governments maintain governance and there is no corruption so that this will be able to provide maximum benefits to the community", she concluded.