TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesia issues 40% of planned annual debt in first quarter
The government explained that “front-loading” debt issuance was a way to anticipate uncertainty brought about by global dynamics, including a highly protectionist trade policy adopted in the United States.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (center) accompanied by deputy ministers Thomas Djiwandono (second left) and Suahasil Nazara (second right), answers reporters' questions during a press conference in Jakarta on March 18, 2025. (Antara Foto/Bayu Pratama S)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto’s administration has issued 40 percent of its annual debt issuance target in just the first three months of the year as the government anticipates economic uncertainty ahead, largely due to a highly protectionist trade policy adopted by the United States.
That equals Rp 250 trillion (US$14.78 billion) worth of debt as of the end of March from a full-year target of Rp 616.2 trillion.
“When we do this front-loading, it’s not because we don’t have the money. It’s part of the debt issuance strategy to anticipate uncertainties,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said at a public economic forum on Tuesday.
In the same three-month period last year, the government had issued 34.8 percent of a Rp 775.9 trillion debt target for 2024.
The debt issuance in this year’s first quarter helps finance a budget deficit of around Rp 104.2 trillion, 0.43 percent of GDP.
The deficit widened as the government had only collected Rp 516.1 trillion in state revenue as of March while spending Rp 620.3 trillion in the same period.
Revenue collection in first quarter this year marked a 16-percent year-on-year (yoy) drop from last year’s Rp 620.1 trillion.
