Jakarta. Indonesia recorded Rp 131.8 trillion, or about $8.6 billion, in budget surplus as of end-February 2023, according to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

The minister reported that the state revenue totaled Rp 419.6 trillion in the first two months of 2023, exceeding the country’s spending which amounted to Rp 287.8 trillion. The Rp 131.8 trillion surplus is also equivalent to 0.63 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Data showed that the country’s primary balance had a surplus of Rp 182.2 trillion.

“We have achieved 17 percent of our targeted state revenue for this year. Our state revenue also grew by 38.7 percent year-on-year [yoy],” Sri told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Indonesia collected Rp 279.98 trillion in tax revenue in Jan-Feb 2023, up by 40.35 percent y-o-y. About Rp 137.09 trillion came from income tax in the non-oil and gas sectors. Sri also told the news conference that the oil and gas sector contributed Rp 12.67 trillion in income tax. The government posted Rp 128.27 trillion in value-added tax and luxury tax. The remaining Rp 1.95 trillion is derived from building tax and other taxes. 

Also, Indonesia earned Rp 53.27 trillion in customs and excise in Jan-Feb 2023, marking a slight drop of 6.13 percent from the same period in the previous year. 

“Our non-tax revenue reached Rp 86.4 trillion. This is an incredible growth of 86.6 percent y-o-y,” Sri told the presser.

The central government spent a total of Rp 182.6 trillion as of end-February.

The ministry/agency spending totaled Rp 76.4 trillion with the money going to the acceleration of school operational grants (locally known as the Bantuan Operasional Sekolah or BOS) and social assistance, among others. The figures represent 7.6 percent of what the government has allotted for the ministries and agencies this year, according to Sri.

Non-ministerial/agency spending totaled Rp 106.2 trillion over the same period, with the money spent on pensions, debt interest payments, and subsidies. Transfers to subnational governments stood at Rp 105.2 trillion, down from Rp 110.5 trillion that Indonesia saw in the first two months of last year.

“We will continue to use the state budget to protect Indonesians from possible shocks, including the global economic pressure, etc,” Sri said.

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