The 2021 state budget would keep changing through reallocation of various ministry/department expenditures to meet the dynamic demands amid this pandemic.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The realization of budget for National Economic Recovery (PEN) program has reached Rp277.36 trillion, or 37.2 percent of the Rp744.75-trillion ceiling budget, on July 16, 2021, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.

The government also raised the total budget for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (PC and PEN) from Rp699.43 trillion to Rp744.75 trillion, she revealed at 'Our State Budget (APBN)' press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The addition was affected by the increase in the social protection programs budget to Rp187.84 trillion from Rp153.86 trillion and the health budget to Rp214.95 trillion from Rp172 trillion, she said.

The budget allocation for allowances in the health sector touched Rp54.1 trillion, or 25.2 percent of the Rp214.95-trillion budget ceiling, and in the social protection program Rp82.22 trillion, or 43.8 percent out of Rp187.84-trillion ceiling, she informed.

Disbursements under priority programs reached Rp44.44 trillion, or 37.7 percent of the Rp117.94-trillion ceiling, support programs for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives Rp51.53 trillion, or 32 percent of the Rp161.2-trillion ceiling, and business incentives Rp45.07 trillion, or 71.7 percent of the Rp62.83 trillion ceiling, she added.

"The 2021 state budget would keep changing through reallocation of various ministry/institution expenditures to meet the dynamic demands amid this pandemic," the minister remarked.

“The additional Rp55.21 trillion was obtained from refocusing expenditures at ministries and institutions. At this moment, it is undergoing its fourth refocusing,” she added.

Despite spare funds, the government will maintain the deficit so it does not exceed the ceiling-budget in the State Budget Law, she affirmed.

“We (the government) were permitted by the House of Representatives (DPR) to include the 2020 accumulated budget surplus (SAL) into the 2021 State Budget,” Indrawati stated.

The government used Rp186.67 trillion of the 2020 SAL to increase this year's expenditure and reduce government-issued sovereign debt papers (SBN), she added.

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Translator: Astrid Habibah, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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