Indonesia’s 2022 unaudited budget deficit at 2.38% of GDP -Finance Minister

JAKARTA  – Indonesia recorded a 464.3 trillion rupiah fiscal deficit in 2022, or 2.38 percent of gross domestic product, based on unaudited data, its finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Tuesday, much smaller than originally designed.

The government had initially targeted a budget deficit of 4.85 percent of GDP. Revenue collection, however, got a boost from higher commodity prices and the easing of COVID restrictions last year, prompting the government to revise down the deficit forecast several times.

The latest figure was below a forecast on Dec. 21, when President Joko Widodo said he expected a 2.49- percent deficit.

The resource-rich country recorded 2,626.4 trillion rupiah of revenue last year, up 30.6 percent from 2021 and about 16 percent bigger than the target, the minister told an online news conference.

The government spent 3,090.8 trillion rupiah, slightly below the planned amount and representing 11% growth from the previous year.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy likely grew 5.2 percent last year, Sri Mulyani said. Economic growth in 2021 was 3.7 percent and the government is targetting a 5.3- percent GDP expansion this year.