He said there was a possibility that the government might change its assumptions and calculations including on the deficit set at 1.8 percent in the 2011 budget because it could affect state revenues.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said the Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) hike which was possible due to increasing world`s price of crude to above US$100 per barrel could increase the 2011 budget deficit.
"The impact of the ICP hike will still be increasing the deficit due to education budget which must be maintained at 20 percent. So it will depend upon the ICP hike, compared to the average price of US$80 per barrel (set for the budget)," he said here on Friday.
He said there was a possibility that the government might change its assumptions and calculations including on the deficit set at 1.8 percent in the 2011 budget because it could affect state revenues.
"In general, we still view that the ICP hike will not be permanent. But it will still affect revenues. And with regard to spending we must know that there are also subsidies for electricity and fuel oils as well as education budget which must be adjusted," he said.
He said the government would re-calculate some of the assumptions so far such as for inflation, rupiah exchange rate, interest rates, and oil lifting to assure that the deficit will not surpass two percent.
He said however that the government had not yet seen the need to revise the 2011 budget. "There is still no need for it. What we are doing is monitoring and being alert but we have not seen the urgency to revise it" he said.
He said the government would continue to safeguard the budget deficit while taking other initiatives such as imposing the presidential instructions on budget economy to reduce unproductive spending.
"We will conduct simulation or monitoring based upon the decision that the deficit must not surpass two percent," he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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