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View all search resultsNew deputy finance minister guns for 5.6% first-quarter GDP growth
Just under a week since he was sworn in last Thursday, the ex-Bank Indonesia deputy governor is setting his sights accelerated state spending this quarter to reach up to 5.6 percent growth from an initial 5.5 percent target.
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Juda Agung (at mic) salutes on Feb. 5, 2026, during his inauguration as a deputy finance minister at the State Palace in Central Jakarta. The former Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor replaces Thomas “Tommy” Djiwandono, who was installed as a BI deputy governor on Feb 9. (BPMI Setpres/Laily Rachev)
D
eputy Finance Minister Juda Agung says the government will push gross domestic product growth beyond the baseline in the first quarter of 2026, banking on state spending and social assistance.
Juda, who was newly installed last Thursday after resigning as a Bank Indonesia deputy governor in mid-January, said on Feb. 10 that the first-quarter GDP growth baseline was originally set at 5.5 percent but could be pushed to 5.6 percent on faster government spending.
“Some [government] spending could be done in this first quarter. Yes, there are some spending [items] that are normally slow. We’ll try and get them out fast,” he said on Tuesday, as quoted by CNBC Indonesia.
State spending is a key lever for boosting economic growth by virtue of a multiplier effect, wherein public expenditure pushes other growth sources, but typically falls behind schedule at the start of a year as ministries flesh out the year’s programs and wait for approval.
Slow execution of state spending in the first quarter of 2026 might come at the cost of wasting potential growth momentum during the Ramadan and Idul Fitri holidays in February and March, respectively.
The peak Islamic holiday season is typically accompanied by high consumer spending, which in turn propels economic activity and therefore GDP growth.
Household spending is the backbone of Indonesia’s GDP, as it makes up more than half of the country’s economic output. To capitalize on the seasonal spike in demand, the government frequently rolls out temporary fiscal stimulus over Ramadan and Idul Fitri, as is the case this year.
