Jakarta (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati remains buoyant of the state budget deficit in 2019 staying at its initial projected figure of 2.2 percent despite sluggish tax revenue recorded at only 72 percent of its target.

The Ministry's Directorate General of Tax recorded that until the end of November, tax revenue had only reached Rp1,136 trillion, or 72 percent of the target Rp1,577.5 trillion set in 2019 state budget.

"We will maintain the deficit at 2.2 percent. We are optimistic about this," Indrawati stated here on Friday.

Related news: 2020 State budget deficit to be Rp307.2 trillion

Indrawati noted that the ministry will increase revenue from all sources during the subsequent two weeks, including tax revenue from expenditures, customs, dividend, and non-tax state revenue (PNBP).

According to the minister, state expenditure had risen in the past two weeks to boost economic growth.

"We will observe in the next two weeks after the sluggish growth was earlier bolstered by increased expenditure," she stated.

The minister expressed hope that the current positive momentum of the economy would be continued amid the global slowdown during the third quarter of the year. Related news: Budget deficit reached 1.8% in Oct 2019: Indrawati

Translator: Astrid FH, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019