TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In a meeting at the Bogor Palace yesterday, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati reported to President Joko `Jokowi` Widodo that Indonesia`s state income in 2018 has improved by 16.0 percent.
Sri Mulyani said that this achievement is made possible by the country’s tax income that was able to grow 14.3 percent. “Our income from customs reached its highest in the past three years,” said the minister on her Instagram account posted on July 10.
Compared to the previous three annual state budgets, Sri Mulyani said that the primary balance saw a Rp10 trillion positive surplus. She also reported that the amount of unused funds (silpa) was also deemed positive.
Sri Mulyani explained that the country’s fiscal deficit is well below previous years with the state budget deficit reduced to 36.8 percent. She also said that the state spending improved by 5.7 percent thanks to the accelerated public development and service program.
Furthermore, Minister Sri Mulyani predicts that the state income outlook will achieve its intended goal, although with a slight difference where the state spending will reach 95-96 percent and a smaller amount of fiscal deficit.
CHITRA PARAMAESTI
