We have calculated before. And this is still under control, it is still safe
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The public did not need to worry about withdrawing government debt through the issuance of Government Securities (SBN) which was getting bigger because state debt was under control, Deputy Minister of Finance Suahasil Nazara said.

Before issuing government securities, the government had made careful calculations so that the state debt, which had exceeded the ceiling in the 2019 state budget, was still in a safe condition.

"We have calculated before. And this is still under control, it is still safe," he said during the 3rd Consumer Banking Forum at the Le Meridian Hotel, Jakarta, Wednesday.

It was the government's strategy towards financing the state budget through market utilization, namely the issuance of bonds and multilateral loans including enlarging the SBN instrument, he said.

"We do it when the interest rates are down and are still moving down so we are opportunistic in strategy," he said.

The addition of debt financing was also to reduce the 2019 state budget deficit which widened in the range of two percent to 2.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) so that the budget function as a stabilizer could continue, he explained.

"In the current economic condition, since the government cannot cut back on spending we increase funding so that the state budget can still provide support to the economy," he said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance noted that the position of government debt as of the end of October 2019 was at Rp4.756.13 trillion.

The debt increased by Rp277.56 trillion compared to October 2018 which was recorded at Rp4.478.57 trillion.

Meanwhile, the realization of the Net SBN issuance up to November 20 has touched Rp457.66 trillion, which exceeds the ceiling set by the government in the amount of Rp389 trillion. (INE)

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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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