The state budget will act as a shock absorber by maintaining commodity price stability and increasing purchasing power of the community, including the vulnerable people, through social assistance.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati projected that Indonesia's economic growth will remain strong amid the current global crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The minister conveyed the statement at the press conference of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) here on Wednesday.

The strong growth is supported by household consumption, investment activities, and government spending realization.

As of February 2022, the state spending reached Rp282.7 trillion (US$19.58 billion), or 10.4 percent of the 2022 state budget ceiling.

The figure had improved as compared to the spending in January 2022 that experienced a contraction of up to 13 percent.

The improvement was encouraged by the central government's realized expenditure of Rp172.2 trillion (US$11.93 billion)

The figure included the operational expenditures of the ministries/agencies (K/L) as well as spending for the K/L programs, especially infrastructure development and social aid programs.

The distribution of social assistance has increased due to disbursement of the Smart Indonesia Program assistance, basic food cards assistance, as well as the first stage of Family Hope Program assistance.

Related news: First-quarter economic growth realization to be better: Ministry

Meanwhile, the realization of non-K/L spending reached Rp93.6 trillion (US$6.48 billion). Mostly, it was channelled to fund the increasing subsidy of the energy sector.

The minister drew attention to the likelihood of risk propagation caused by the global economic situation that will affect performance of the domestic economy.

It happens concurrently with the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has dampened positive expectations for global economic recovery although the COVID-19 outbreak had started to subside.

There will also be an increase in financial market volatility.

Hence, Indrawati emphasized that the state budget will continue to respond actively to the development of the economic condition and become the shock absorber in anticipating and dealing with the ongoing global pressure.

"The state budget will act as a shock absorber by maintaining commodity price stability and increasing purchasing power of the community, including the vulnerable people, through social assistance," she added.

Related news: WB lowers Indonesia's growth projection to 5.1 percent for 2022
Related news: Stoking economic growth through domestic product purchase

Translator: Astrid Habibah, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022