"We still have 60 percent of the 2023 APBN that we can spend. We support the use of APBN for financing activities that can increase (the use of) domestic products," she remarked during an event called Business Meeting Round IV in Jakarta on Thursday.
The ceiling of this year's APBN is set at Rp3,061.2 trillion (around US$200 billion), while budget realization as of the first semester of 2023 had reached Rp1,255.7 trillion (US$82.6 billion).
Hence, the government still wields as much as Rp1,805.5 trillion (US$119 billion) of the budget that it can in the remaining months of this year.
The state treasurer underlined that the government is committed to promoting the use of domestic products by undertaking various measures, including by focusing on efforts aimed at boosting the products' quality and competitiveness.
Furthermore, the government is currently striving to succeed in the implementation of the Intensification of Domestic Product Utilization (P3DN) policy in order to increase the use of domestic MSME products.
The policy is expected to push ministries and agencies at the central and regional levels to increase their spending on domestic products to reach 95 percent.
In addition, the government is targeting to spend as much as Rp250 trillion (US$16.5 billion) of the APBN on buying domestic MSME and artisan products.
"I believe that such measures will definitely benefit MSMEs, especially at this time when many of them are still striving to rise from the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 pandemic," she affirmed.
Minister Mulyani further noted that the government has set the General Procurement Plan (RUP), with the total value of Rp112.45 trillion (US$7.4 billion), for 5.3 million procurement packages, with its current realization recorded at Rp387.81 trillion (25.5 billion) for 768 packages.
"Therefore, we still have a very vast budget to optimize. I hope that in this year's remaining months, goods and services spending activities will further increase the use of domestic products," she pointed out.
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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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