TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Jusuf Kalla reacted to Sigit Pradi Pramudito's resignation from his post as Tax Director General by saying that he respects Sigit's reasons for doing so. Sigit resigned because he felt that the Tax Directorate General had failed in meeting this year's tax revenue target as pegged in the 2015 amended state budget.

"I respect his honesty and efforts as well his fairness. However I think that it is not just a matter of incompetence, but also the overall economic problems in the world and in Indonesia," the vice president said after opening the Real Estate Indonesia (REI) National Workshop 2015 in Jakarta, Wednesday, December 2, 2015.

Kalla said that Sigit's resignation from office is not solely due to his inability to achieve the tax revenue target, but also because of Indonesia's slowing economy.

Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro earlier announced that Sigit resigned from his post as Tax Director General. His resignation is effective since the submission of his letter of resignation on Tuesday morning, December 1, 2015.

According to Bambang, one of the reasons Sigit resigned was because the DG failed to meet this year's tax revenue target. In the 2015 amended state budget, tax revenue is targeted to reach Rp1,294 trillion. As of the time of his resignation, only 85-87 percent of that target had been met.

For the time being, the tax Directorate General will be led by Ken Dwijugiastiadi. The GD's expert staff on regulation and tax enforcement is now acting as chief.

ANTARA | RR