STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani on Friday said the realization of the state revenue and expenditure budget experienced a surplus of IDR73.6 trillion in the first half of 2022, equivalent to 0.39 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
She said the ministry is confident that the state budget deficit will drop below 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, pointing to faster-than-planned fiscal consolidation despite increased spending to shield Indonesians from surging global energy prices.
After a second downward revision, the ministry now expects the difference between state revenue and spending to reach just 3.92 percent of GDP, much lower than its previous projection of 4.5 percent as well as the budget plan’s original assumption of 4.85 percent.
Indonesia’s six-month long tax amnesty program, its second in the space of five years, has uncovered nearly $40 billion of hidden assets and earned authorities $4 billion in extra tax revenue, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said on Friday.
The program, which ended on Thursday, sought to improve tax compliance and followed a nine-month amnesty from 2016 to 2017 that uncovered IDR300 billion of assets and generated IDR9 billion in revenue from penalties.
Domestic inflation has risen faster than expected by either the government or Bank Indonesia (BI), setting a new record since June 2017 as food and transportation prices soar.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Friday that the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 4.35 percent year-on-year (yoy) in June, marking a significant acceleration from the 3.55 percent rate reported for the preceding month.
The expenditure category of food, beverages and tobacco continued to be the dominant driver of inflation in June, as it alone accounted for 0.47 percentage points of the overall 0.61 percent mtm CPI increase.
Indonesia proposed raising palm oil export quotas on Friday and is considering increasing mandatory levels of biodiesel in fuel mixes to prop prices for farmers at a time when domestic palm oil inventories are high, Maritime and Investment Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said on Saturday.
Luhut said the government will now allow companies that have sold palm oil domestically to export seven times the amount of their domestic sales from currently five times. Luhut said he has urged the Trade Ministry to accelerate the export of crude palm oil (CPO) and cooking oil raw material to increase the price of fresh fruit bunches.
Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Monday said he planned to increase the domestic market obligation (DMO) to compensate oil palm farmers for the low price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB).
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif on Monday said the government is considering Russia’s offer to develop a nuclear power plant in Indonesia. Not only Russia, but other countries have also offered to build a nuclear power plant under a bilateral cooperation scheme, he said. “We will look at which (offer) is competitive and reliable. The need for nuclear energy will start only in 2040 based on the road map for the energy we have conceived,” he said.
National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Chief Laksana Tri Handoko on Wednesday (6/29) met with France’s nuclear organization higherups in an attempt to explore possibilities to establish a bilateral partnership in nuclear development in Indonesia. In the meeting, Handoko elaborated the two crucial plans regarding the development of nuclear in Indonesia which includes fixing its infrastructure and increasing building capacity. Handoko hopes that through this meeting Indonesia can establish cooperation with France as one of the developed countries in the field of nuclear technology (Red/many sources).
