Jakarta. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa plans to reassign 213 employees from the Directorate General of Budget to the Directorate General of Taxes to address staffing shortages without increasing the state payroll.

Purbaya said the tax directorate requires additional personnel as revenue targets rise, while the budget directorate currently has excess staff.

He argued that reallocating existing personnel within the Finance Ministry is more efficient than recruiting new employees from outside.

“The tax office lacks staff, while the budget directorate has a surplus. This is better than hiring new people,” Purbaya said in Jakarta on Friday.

He added that the employees being reassigned already possess the educational background and work experience needed to adapt to tax-related duties.

“The adjustment required is not significant. With one or two weeks of tax training, it should be sufficient,” he said.

Purbaya explained that internal transfers are a more rational approach than maintaining surplus staff in one unit while opening new recruitment in another.

The government has raised its tax revenue target by 22% this year to Rp 2,357.7 trillion ($138.9 billion). Indonesia’s tax workforce currently totals more than 45,000 employees across central and regional offices.