It's Only Been Two Months Since Debt Financing Has Been On A Quarter Way, What's Up Mrs. Sri Mulyani?

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) informed that the realization of financing through debt issuance as of February 2023 reached IDR 186.9 trillion.

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said that the amount was equivalent to 26.84 percent of the total 2023 State Budget target of IDR 696.3 trillion.

"Loan financing through the issuance of Government Securities (SBN) and loans has been on track in accordance with this year's financing strategy," he said while giving the APBN presentation to reporters, quoted by the editors on Wednesday, March 15.

From the data shared by the Minister of Finance, the amount of debt financing until last month doubled or 101.1 percent from February 2022 which was only Rp92.9 trillion.

Investigate a calibaration, the withdrawal of debt which was quite aggressive at the beginning of this year could not be separated from the government's strategy to avoid the effect of swelling costs of funds.

"We do front loading because we all know there is a trend of rising interest rates. This is what we will anticipate in the second semester of 2023, namely higher and longer. So we are looking for opportunities when interest rates have not increased," he said.

For information, this debt financing is intended to patch the 2023 State Budget which is designed for a deficit of IDR 598.2 trillion or equivalent to 2.84 percent of Gross Domestic Product. As for the end of February, the State Budget still posted a surplus of IDR 131.8 trillion.

"The debt procurement team is based on consideration of market conditions and financing needs," said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.