Jakarta. The Finance Ministry has reported a surplus in the state budget amounting to Rp 22.8 trillion ($1.44 billion). As of March 15, state revenue reached Rp 493.2 trillion, while state expenditures totaled Rp 470.3 trillion. This represents a decrease of 81.4 percent in the state budget surplus compared to the same period last year.

"Until March 15, the state budget has shown a quite good and stable performance," said Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati during a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday.

The current realization of state revenue has achieved 17.6 percent of the 2024 state budget target of Rp 2,802.3 trillion. However, there has been a decline of 5.4 percent in state revenue compared to the previous year.

"In terms of growth, state revenues experienced significant increases in 2021 and 2022. While there was still growth in 2023, it was expected to contract," she elaborated.

Tax revenue reached Rp 342.9 trillion or 17.2 percent of this year's target, with a contraction of 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Customs and excise revenue amounted to Rp 56.5 trillion or 17.6 percent of the target, indicating a contraction of 3.2 percent from March 15, 2023. Non-tax state revenue realization stood at Rp 93.5 trillion or 19.3 percent of the target.

Meanwhile, state expenditures from January to mid-March 2024 amounted to 14.1 percent of the total budget of Rp 3,325 trillion. Sri Mulyani highlighted that state expenditure realization grew by 18.1 percent year on year.