The 2022 State Budget Will Have an 'Emergency Switch' in Anticipation of the Pandemic Worsening

JAKARTADAILY.ID - In an official press release published by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo stated that he hopes for the heads of ministries and institutions to make automatic adjustments in the state budget to anticipate uncertainty in 2022.

In his official Instagram account @jokowi, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, said that the new variant of Covid-19, Omicron, which has hit several countries in the world, is one of the factors that underlie the preparation of the 2022 State Budget with automatic adjustment mode installed. The 2022 state budget is made so that the government's budget policies are able to mitigate and anticipate risks due to the worsening of the pandemic as early as possible.

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"The Covid-19 pandemic has not ended and is still a threat to Indonesia and the world, especially with the emergence of new variants of Omicron in a number of countries. For this reason, anticipation and mitigation need to be prepared as early as possible so as not to disrupt the continuity of the structural reform program and national economic recovery that is being carried out, including in designing the 2022 State Budget (APBN)," said Jokowi.

High Deficit

Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance Press Release also stated that 2022 is a crucial year because in that year the government is still allowed to make the APBN Deficit exceed 3 percent. Fiscal policy will be directed to remain expansive in the midst of recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic by gradually continuing the fiscal consolidation process, considering that 2022 is the last period for the State Budget deficit to be above 3 percent.

The year 2022 will mark an important momentum for Indonesia, which has been elected as the G20 Presidency. For this reason, Indonesia must also be able to show action in responding to the potential threat of climate change in order to maintain sustainable development.

"As the G20 Presidency, we must demonstrate our capabilities in dealing with climate change, especially in reducing emissions and moving towards sustainable environmental improvements. We have to show concrete actions of our commitment to a green and sustainable economy," said the President.

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The 2022 state budget is designed to focus on several things. First, the Health Sector is directed to continue handling Covid-19 and strengthening health system reforms. Second, the Social Protection Sector is directed to provide protection to the community and workforce, reduce poverty, improve welfare, and develop human resources, followed by social policy reform and improvement of DTKS.

Third, the education sector is directed to improve the quality of human resources; Fourth, the Infrastructure Sector is focused on meeting the availability of basic services, increasing productivity, and completing priority and strategic projects; Fifth, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is focused on accelerating the provision of ICT infrastructure and national digital transformation.

Sixth, the Food Security Sector is directed to encourage increased production of food commodities and revitalization of the food security system; Seventh, the tourism sector is directed to encourage the recovery of the tourism sector and the development of priority tourist destinations.

Budget Constellation