JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliamentary budget committee and the government on Wednesday agreed to set a 2023 economic growth target of 5.3%, the committee’s chair said, similar with President Joko Widodo’s proposal.
The committee and the government also agreed on 2023 spending of 3,061.2 trillion rupiah ($205.31 billion), slightly higher than the proposed budget, chair Said Abdullah told Reuters.
Both will discuss details of the spending further taking it to a wider parliamentary vote, the chair said, adding the total spending figure is not expected to change from Wednesday’s agreement.
“We still haven’t discussed regional spending details,” he said.
The wider parliamentary vote is required for the 2023 budget approval, which would typically take place later in September or in October. The budget committee’s endorsement is usually reflected in the wider vote.
The 2023 budget deficit target was agreed at 2.84% of gross domestic product, according to Said, slightly lower than the government’s proposal in August of 2.85% of GDP.
The government has previously said it will make its budget healthier by reducing its deficit below 3% of GDP next year as required by law.
Indonesia waived the legally-mandated budget deficit ceiling for three years from 2020 to provide room for increased government spending during the pandemic. The finance ministry’s outlook for this year’s deficit is still 3.92% of GDP.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Martin Petty, Kanupriya Kapoor)
