"It will particularly affect the Minimum Essential Force (MEF)," Ali noted in a statement here on Friday.
Under the current conditions, it is difficult to expect the MEF to reach 100 percent in December 2024. As of December 2020, realization of the MEF program had reportedly reached only 62.31 percent.
Moreover, the decline in budget allocation will also increase burden on the next government, especially in implementing the next program after the MEF, specifically the Essential Force (EF), according to Ali, who is concurrently a defense industry and market consultant at PT Semar Sentinel.
Ali realizes that the defense budget cut is owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The next president, however, will have to address this matter.
The budget also indicates that the Ministry of Defense has no privileges despite the budget allocation being higher than other ministries or state institutions.
"The Ministry of Defense’s budget allocation in the 2021 State Budget reaches Rp137 trillion, and the plan is to reduce it to Rp133.9 trillion in the 2022 RAPBN, so the ministry is not a special body," he noted.
Nevertheless, he suggested that the Ministry of Defense immediately capitalize on the allocation of foreign loan approved by the Ministry of Finance for defense equipment spending until 2022.
The ministry should also immediately formulate which defense and security equipment is a priority since not all weapon purchase plans can be implemented due to the limited budget, he explained.
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Translator: M Zulfikar, Fardah
Editor: Suharto
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