State Debt Hits 41% of GDP; PKS Questions State Budget Health
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29 December 2021 12:05 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction deputy head for the economy and finance at the House of Representatives (DPR), Ecky Awal Mucharam, opined that the state debt that reached 41.38 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had already exceeded its healthy portion.
Ecky said this raised questions about whether or not the source of funds, the budget posture, and state spending are really healthy.
“How can the state budget (APBN) be said healthy when it doesn't have a significant impact on the people’s welfare,” he said.
The APBN policy, he argued, must be able to support the country's economy. By means, every expenditure issued must be effective and efficient as well as able to cause multiple effects on other sectors.
“While the current condition of the state economy is "besar pasak daripada tiang" (bigger expense than incomes), where many SOEs are unhealthy and needed to be saved by the state budget from people's taxes and debts, which leads to worries,” Ecky said, mentioning a proverb that means the expenditure is greater than the income.
The PKS politician also questioned the national recovery program given the fact that the millennial unemployment rate reached 19.55 percent.
“The national recovery program must be re-examined considering that the government has not stated explicitly regarding fiscal policy in the sector by far,” he added.
According to him, Indonesia's economic condition is worrisome as people are facing hard times, such as being trapped in illegal online loans. Besides, there is a bill on the new capital city or RUU IKN being discussed amid an economic crisis.
“On this basis, the PKS Faction sees the need for improvements from the upstream regarding the existing policies,” Ecky concluded.
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