The government and House Commission XI overseeing financial affairs, among others, agreed in macroeconomic assumptions for the 2019 state budget during their meeting on Thursday.

The assumptions remain unchanged from those stated in the financial notes of the 2019 state budget bill.

The document will then be further discussed by the House’s budget committee before it is approved into law.

Initially, lawmakers from the Gerindra Party rejected the rupiah exchange rate assumption of Rp 14,400 per US dollar, claiming the figure was not realistic because the current exchange rate was hovering between Rp 14,800 and Rp 14,900 against the US dollar.

Later, however, the Gerindra faction approved the assumption, arguing that it entrusted the exchange rate to Bank Indonesia (BI) as a monetary authority, which had projected the rupiah to reach between Rp 14.300 and Rp 14,700 per US dollar next year.

BI senior deputy governor Mirza Adityaswara said that BI projected fewer pressures against the rupiah next year because the United States Federal Reserve would increase its reference rate only twice – unlike this year, when it is estimated to increase the Fed Fund Rate four times. (bbn)

Below are the macroeconomic assumptions for the 2019 state budget:

- Economic growth: 5.3 percent

- Inflation: 3.5 percent

- Rupiah exchange rate:  Rp 14,400 per US dollar

- Government debt paper (SPN) rate: 5.3 percent

- Unemployment: 4.8-5.2 percent

- Poverty rate 8.5-9.5 percent

- Gini Ratio 0.038-0.039

- Human Development Index: 71.98.