The country's state budget deficit will be backed by using secured and sustainable funding resourcesJakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government will maintain the 2020 state budget deficit at Rp307.2 trillion or 1.76 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an expansive and proportional fiscal policy, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated on Friday. The calculation of the deficit rate was based on the state budget expenditure of Rp2,528.8 trillion and the income that was set to reach Rp2,221.5 trillion in 2020.
"The country's state budget deficit will be backed by using secured and sustainable funding resources," the president said during the Address of the 2020 State Budget Bill before the House of Representatives members at the Parliament Building here.
Jokowi pledged to utilize debts only for funding development projects in sectors such as education, health, social protection, infrastructure, defense and security.
"Creative funding was aimed to accelerate the infrastructure project completion. Therefore, the government will invite the private sector to participate in the country's development by launching a government-to-business scheme (KPBU)," Jokowi explained.
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He assured the people that the state budget deficit and the country's debt ratio would be carefully controlled following the Law of the State Finance.
The state's deficit had been slowly reduced to 1.93 percent of the GDP in 2019 from 2.59 percent in 2015, with another drop to 1.76 percent in 2020.
Meanwhile, the government also drastically narrowed the primary balance deficit from 142.5 trillion in 2015 to Rp34.7 trillion in 2019. In the 2020 State Budget Bill, the primary balance deficit was further trimmed to Rp12 trillion. (INE)
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Ade Irma / Genta Tenri M
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
