The agency says the cuts, part of a broader government efficiency drive, endanger its core operations and could compromise national resilience by impairing its ability to accurately monitor weather patterns, climate conditions, air quality, earthquakes and tsunamis.

The agency's primary concern revolves around maintaining its instruments, many of which are already beyond their expected service lives.

BMKG legal, public relations and cooperation bureau head Muslihhuddin warned that the budget cuts could diminish the agency's maintenance capacity by 71 percent.

"The accuracy of weather, climate, earthquake and tsunami information decreased from 90 percent to 60 percent, and early tsunami warning dissemination could slow from three minutes to over five minutes, and the reach of earthquake and tsunami information would decrease by 70 percent," Muslihhuddin said, as quoted by cnnindonesia.com.

He added that long-term studies on Indonesia's climate and tectonic dynamics would be difficult to conduct and that the budget cuts would also keep the BMKG from modernizing its systems and equipment, which were crucial for ensuring air transportation safety.

The impact extended beyond immediate disaster warning capabilities, he said. Support services for food security, energy and water resources could be disrupted, as well as climate and disaster resilience initiatives.

The BMKG also noted that it played a key role in providing early tsunami warnings in the Indian Ocean and ASEAN regions.

It maintained that mitigating geohydrometeorological disaster threats was of the utmost importance for Indonesia.

"[We must take] into account the factors of national resilience and the safety of the Indonesian public from potential disasters that can occur at any time," Muslihhuddin said.

Presidential Instruction No. 1/2025 mandates Rp 306.69 trillion (US$18.85 billion) worth of budget cuts across government institutions.

During a meeting on Feb. 6, the revised BMKG budget was revealed to be Rp 1.403 trillion, a significant decrease from the initial Rp 2.826 trillion. 

Lasarus, chairman of House of Representatives Commission V, said such budget cuts were necessary to comply with the presidential instruction and a related Finance Ministry decree.

"The indicated [budget] ceiling is the sole authority of the government. That's the rule, and that's why there is a presidential instruction and a letter from the finance minister," Lasarus said, as quoted by liputan6.com.

The government initially set a deficit target of Rp 616.2 trillion, or 2.53 percent, from the gross domestic product, for the 2025 state budget.

Economists, however, estimated that the deficit could be as high as Rp 800 trillion with a much larger cabinet and several budget-hungry programs, such as the free meals program and the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) programs.