Economy & Business

State Budget Deficit Increases to 1.3 Percent
Thursday, 26 August, 2004 | 00:14 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The 2004 State Budget (APBN) deficit has increased from 1.2 percent to 1.3 percent.

Indonesian Minister of Finance Boediono made this statement in Jakarta on Tuesday (24/08).

The deficit increase, Boediono said, was caused by a fluctuation in the oil price assumption from US$22 per barrel to US$36 per barrel.

However, he said he was convinced that the deficit increase could be covered by the sale of state assets, the role of the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA) and the sale of state bonds, which all in all are targeted to reach Rp32.5 trillion.

Apart from the deficit, other macro assumptions would not change much.

These include the fixed economic growth rate, that is at the level of 4.8 percent, the 7-percent inflation rate, the exchange rate that is fixed at the level Rp8,900 per US$ and the interest on Bank Indonesian Certificates (SBI) that is fixed at the rate of 8.5 percent. (Bagja Hidayat - Tempo News Room)