"President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) has said this year is a transitional year and so the 2015 budget must be prepared so that it will not cause difficulty for the new president," Firmanzah, the presidential special aide for economic affairs, said.
President Yudhoyono held a limited cabinet meeting to discuss the draft 2014 revised budget and the 2015 budget.
"In the draft 2014 revised budget, some assumptions have been changed. The economic growth is proposed at 5.5 percent, while the rupiah exchange rate (against the US dollar) is set at Rp11,600. The oil and gas lifting as well as the government three-month bond will also be adjusted," he said.
With regard to the governments work plan for 2015, the meeting will discuss the possibility of the US Feds rate hike, which needs to be anticipated.
"Regarding the Feds decision, we will coordinate with the Bank Indonesia (the central bank) and we will find sources of economic growth because if the interest rate is up the growth will be depressed," he said.
Firmanzah added that the "use of subsidized fuels will continue to be controlled by the ministry of energy and mineral resources so that it will not surpass the quota and cause a fiscal deficit through among others increased utilization of gas and the implementation of the RIFD control system." (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
