"This gives the market and public a picture of controllable macro conditions," Finance Minister Chatib Basri said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Finance Minister Chatib Basri said a budget deficit of 2.38 percent set in the draft revision of the 2013 state budget reflects certainty about overall national economic conditions.
"This gives the market and public a picture of controllable macro conditions," he said after a working meeting with the House Budget Commission here on Wednesday.
At the meeting the commission agreed on the results achieved at a meeting of the working committee A discussing macro economic assumptions, income and budget deficit.
The working committee proposed a cut in the budget deficit to 2.38 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) or Rp224.1 trillion from 2.48 percent of the GDP or Rp233.7 trillion.
The budget deficit is the difference between state revenues in the draft revision of the 2013 state budget which increases to Rp1,502 trillion from Rp1,488.3 trillion previously and state expenditures which rise to Rp1,726.1 trillion from Rp1,722 trillion.
Chatib said the House Budget Commission`s approval suggested that both the government and the House of Representatives are making an effort to maintain budget resilience and convince the market that the national economy is in good condition.
"The budget deficit of 2.38 percent eases worries about a budget deficit of more than 3 percent. We managed to make the budget deficit lower than that proposed by the government. This is a good signal," he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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