State Budget and 2019 Challenges
As President Joko Widodo promised, the 2019 state budget is different from the previous year’s budget, which focused on infrastructure development, and focuses on developing human resources through a Rp 385 trillion budget allocation for programs that strengthen social protection.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani speaks at a press conference on the 2019 state budget on Wednesday (31/10/2018). State income in the budget has been set at Rp 2.16 quadrillion, while state expenditures at Rp 2.46 quadrillion.
The 2019 state budget was finally approved on Wednesday (31/10/2018). The Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that the budget reflects optimism as well as circumspection amid the global uncertainty.
Generally, economists consider the budget’s macroeconomic assumption to be realistic and credible. Economic growth is set at 5.3 percent, inflation 3.5 percent, the rupiah’s exchange rate against the US dollar at Rp 15,000, Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) at US$70 per barrel and oil production at 775,000 barrels per day. State income is Rp 2,165.1 trillion and state expenditure is Rp 2,461.1 trillion for a budget deficit of Rp 296 trillion, or 1.84 percent of GDP.