JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s deputy finance minister on Tuesday said the total budget funding the government is freeing up through efficiency measures remained unchanged at 306 trillion rupiah ($18.8 billion), after the president gave a much higher figure.
On the weekend, President Prabowo Subianto told a gathering of his political party that the total figure that his government has saved through the efficiency drive was 750 trillion rupiah.
The housing minister separately posted on Instagram a photo of a slide showing the breakdown of that figure as net spending cuts of 550 trillion rupiah and a net 200 trillion rupiah of dividend payments from state companies, describing it as “total savings in the hands of the president of Indonesia”.
When asked about Prabowo’s figure, deputy finance minister Suahasil Nazara told reporters: “No, the efficiency we’re doing is as written in the Presidential Instruction document, which is 256 trillion rupiah for ministries and agencies and 50 trillion rupiah in transfers to local governments.”
He declined to comment further on the higher figure Prabowo cited. The president’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
“The budget efficiency is meant to … redirect the funds for activities that are more productive and can grow the local economy,” the deputy minister said.
Earlier on Tuesday, in a presentation to the regional representative council, the finance ministry showed a plan for 2025 total spending at 3,621.3 trillion rupiah and a deficit forecast of 2.53% of GDP, unchanged from the figures approved by parliament last year.
Prabowo issued the instruction to his administration to cut unnecessary spending by 306 trillion rupiah last month, telling ministries and government agencies to halve costs on ceremonies and business trips.
($1 = 16,270 rupiah)
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by John Mair)
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