Indonesia 2016 budget deficit may swell to 2.7% of GDP

A view of the buildings in Central Jakarta, Indonesia August 2, 2016. REUTERS

JAKARTA: Indonesia's budget deficit for this year may increase to 2.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from a previous estimate of 2.5 percent, Askolani, the finance ministry's director general of budgeting, told Reuters on Saturday.

The government may have to pay higher cost recovery for oil and gas contractors than the $8 billion it originally planned in the first half of the year, as those companies had charged the government $6.5 billion up to July, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said late on Friday.  - Reuters