Finance Minister Purbaya Outlines Gradual Path Toward President Prabowo’s Balance Budget Goal
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JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has outlined a gradual strategy to realize President Prabowo Subianto’s ambition of achieving a balanced budget within the next two to three years, as conveyed in his 2026 State Budget proposal address to parliament on Tuesday, Sept 23, 2025.
Purbaya emphasized that the effort would be pursued step by step rather than abruptly. “A plan is a plan. If it cannot be achieved in one year, that is fine,” he said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta.
To narrow the deficit, the minister stressed efficiency in government spending and stronger tax enforcement in 2026. “We will make a significant effort to eliminate tax evasion and related practices,” he added.
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He noted that narrowing the fiscal gap often involved broad spending cuts, but such measures could generate public pressure. “We need macroeconomic and socio-political stability to finance faster growth,” Purbaya said.
The government, he added, must maintain space for the economy to expand while keeping within legal fiscal limits. He reiterated that the state budget deficit ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product and the debt ratio cap of 60 percent remain binding. “We are highly prudent. If rating agencies question this, let them compare us with advanced economies they use as benchmarks—and then let them look in the mirror,” he said.
President Prabowo has repeatedly called for eliminating the budget deficit, declaring in his budget address that Indonesia should aim to report a balanced budget by 2027 or 2028. “It is my aspiration that one day, whether in 2027 or 2028, I can stand before this assembly and announce that Indonesia has achieved a state budget with no deficit at all,” Prabowo said.
For 2026, the government projects a deficit of Rp 638.8 trillion, equal to 2.48 percent of GDP, supported by tighter budget discipline and efficiency measures.