Indonesia’s next year budget to focus on five sectors

 

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s House of Representatives passed the 2020 state budget on September 24, focusing on five prioritised fields, to avoid an economic downturn amid a risk of recession in developed economies and a global trade war.

In the 2020 state budget, the country’s government and the House agreed to set the budget deficit at 307.2 trillion IDR (21.8 billion USD), equal to 1.76 percent of gross domestic product.

Meanwhile, the state expenditure was targeted to be 2.54 quadrillion IDR, an 8.5 percent increase from the 2019 estimate. The state revenues targeted in the 2020 state budget would be 2.2 quadrillion IDR.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the 2020 state budget would primarily focus on improving the quality of the country’s human resources through strengthening the education system and providing training assistance.

The Indonesian government will expand its cash assistance programme from school students to university students and graduates, she said. 

It will also give priority to the development of infrastructure, and incentives to improve competitiveness in human resources-based vocational, research and development activities.

The next priority is strengthening fund transfers to regions for equitable development throughout the archipelago.

The fifth priority involves boosting endowment funds in the education sector to improve human resources, promote national culture, develop research and improve the quality of tertiary institutions.

The budget is based on projected economic growth of 5.3 percent and an inflation rate of 3.1 percent, while the rupiah exchange rate is assumed at 14,400 to the US dollar and energy production at 1.19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day./.