Jakarta –
Critics often approach the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati in the context of debt management. Criticism is no exception when it comes to debt management during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This time the criticism came from the DPD RI during a work meeting. Foreign debt is considered to continue to increase in the midst of COVID-19.
“We see an increase in debt during this pandemic. The implication of debt financing which is one of the options for financing the State Budget during the COVID-19 pandemic is the increase in the Indonesian government’s foreign debt,” said the chairman of the DPD RI meeting, Monday (24/1/2022).
In response, Sri Mulyani said that Indonesia’s debt position during the pandemic was still better than other countries. This is reflected in the budget deficit which is still maintained at single digits compared to other countries which have increased to double digits.
“Earlier, the leadership emphasized that there was a lot of debt, but if we compare it with countries in the world, our deficit increase, our debt increase is much more measurable, even compared to both developed and emerging countries,” Sri Mulyani explained.
Continued on next page.
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