"(Effort) From the government alone is not enough. Therefore, mobilization, innovation, and synergy are needed to close the financing gap," manager for the economic development pillar at the agency's SDGs national secretariat, Setyo Budiantoro, said at a webinar on SDGs here on Friday.
According to him, the financing gap poses a challenge to the achievement of SDGs in Indonesia and the world because the budget needed for achieving the goals has increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He elaborated that before the pandemic, the total budget needed for the achievement of SDGs in Indonesia in 2020–2030 was Rp67 thousand trillion (around US$4.36 trillion), and the financing gap was Rp14 thousand trillion (around US$911.47 billion).
After the pandemic, the total budget needed for the same period rose to Rp122 thousand trillion (around US$7.94 trillion), and the financing gap also expanded to Rp24 thousand trillion (around US$1.56 trillion).
Budiantoro affirmed that the government has made several efforts to close the gap. One of the efforts has been the issuance of Presidential Regulation Number 11 of 2022 on the Implementation of the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, which is an amendment to Presidential Regulation Number 59 of 2017.
Through the regulation, he said, the government is encouraging innovative financing platforms for the SDGs and emphasizing the role of parties such as ministries/institutions, philanthropists, business players, academics, and community organizations.
He further said that Indonesia has many initiatives on financing, such as public financing, SDG bonds, blended finance, the Financial Inclusion National Strategy, sustainable economy road map, green taxonomy, financial technology, crowdfunding, and others.
He added that the government has mapped out the financing for SDGs based on their goals and developed the SDGs Financing Hub.
He said that the SDGs Financing Hub aims to increase private sector investment in sustainable development and expand the potential for philanthropic and religion-based financing.
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Translator: Suci Nurhaliza, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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