FILE PHOTO: Trucks with palm oil fresh fruit bunches queue for unloading at a factory in West Aceh, Indonesia, May 17, 2022, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Syifa Yulinnas/ via REUTERS
JAKARTA, Oct 21 (Reuters): Indonesia had a budget surplus of 60.9 trillion rupiah (US$3.90 billion) in the January to September period, equivalent to 0.33% of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Friday, compared with a 2.66% deficit in the same period in 2021.
The minister said the budget until September reflected ongoing recovery after the pandemic, and expected GDP growth in the third quarter will come in above target at 5.2%.
"In Q3, we expect the growth will still be supported by domestic consumption, investment and exports," she said in a news conference.
The country's statistics office is scheduled to announce the Q3 GDP growth data on Nov 7.
Government revenues were up 45.7% on a yearly basis in the January-September period to 1,974.7 trillion rupiah, which the minister attributed to high commodity prices and economic recovery after the pandemic.
Spending rose 5.9% on a yearly basis to 1,913.9 trillion rupiah.
Issuance of government bonds until September dropped 29.4% year-on-year to 471 trillion rupiah, according to the ministry.
Sri Mulyani said lowering bonds issuance was the "right" measure to mitigate against the potential impact of higher costs of funds due to rising market volatility.
Indonesia's bonds auctions have received low bids in the past few weeks with the latest on Oct 11, hitting a multi-year low of 15 trillion rupiah.
In response to the low bids, the ministry's financing department head Luky Alfirman said that with current market conditions, investors are in "wait-and-see" mode. He added that government's cash is still ample.
"The state budget is in a very good condition...in facing the volatile market, so we can survive the situation by not taking too high," he said at the same conference.
He added that the country's gross financing can be reduced up to 20% until end of this year. The government has reduced its financing target for the last quarter. ($1 = 15,630.0000 rupiah) - Reuters
