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Govt delays monthly budget data relay, as experts warn likely revenue drop
As the public was left with no clarity on the state of the government budget, experts have suggested that results for the first few months of this year would see a significant decline compared with the same period last year.
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Facing revenue decline: The Taxation Directorate General building is seen in this undated photo in Gatot Soebroto, Jakarta. (Courtesy of Finance Ministry's KLI Bureau)
T
he Finance Ministry’s unusual failure to disseminate state budget data has experts projecting that the country might see declining revenue in the first few months of this year, partly due to the faulty implementation of the Coretax system and a weakening economy at large, among other factors.
Disseminating the state of the government budget has for years been a regular monthly occurrence, whereby press, investors or the general public could scrutinize both revenue and spending results of the prior month as part of maintaining accountability in the use of state finances.
The ministry makes these materials publicly accessible through online livestreaming and a downloadable publication called “APBN KiTa”, a practice that has been ongoing since December 2017.
However, the Finance Ministry failed to maintain the regular monthly briefing in February, which was supposed to provide clarity on the budget realization for January. Experts have raised concern as skipping the monthly briefing is unprecedented.
The Finance Ministry’s spokesperson Deni Surjantoro said on Friday that “it was just a scheduling issue; the agenda is packed”, without divulging details.
He said “God willing” the long-awaited press conference would be held sometime later this month.
Veteran economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who was reappointed by President Prabowo to lead the Finance Ministry, has recently limited her public appearances, despite what some observers consider as her role in calming markets, such as by canceling the ministry's press briefing on state finances last month.
