Indonesia 9-month fiscal deficit at 4.16% of GDP

Total spending in the first nine months of the year was 1,841.1 trillion rupiah, up 15.5% from the same period in 2019, while revenue slid 13.7% on a yearly basis to 1,159 trillion rupiah, Sri Mulyani told a virtual news conference.

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s budget deficit was estimated at 682.1 trillion rupiah (US$46.56bil) in the January-September period, equivalent to 4.16% of gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.

The government has forecast a fiscal deficit of 6.34% of GDP for 2020, the widest in decades, due to increased spending on the Covid-19 pandemic response.