1993-1994 budget saw deficit of $840 million
1993-1994 budget saw deficit of $840 million
JAKARTA (JP): The state budget for the 1993/1994 fiscal year,
which ended in March, suffered a deficit of Rp 1.85 trillion
(US$840 million), partly because of a drop in actual receipts
from the oil and gas sector.
Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said here yesterday that
the deficit was partly caused by the higher than estimated
spending for both routine activities and development projects,
the minister told the House of Representatives in a plenary
session.
Mar'ie said that the government's actual revenues in the
1993/1994 year totaled Rp 66.86 trillion, surpassing the initial
target by around seven percent. Actual spending, on the other
side, reached Rp 68.71 trillion, exceeding the initial plan by
around 10 percent.
According to regulation, the government's balanced budget plan
should pass through the House at least three times. Approval is
first needed for the budget plan, which is usually made before
the start of the fiscal year. A second approval is necessary for
the estimated budget, which is generally proposed before the end
of the budget year.
The last stage of House approval is needed for the audited
(actual) budget, which must be proposed within two years after
the budget year is ended.
Higher
The minister said that the government's actual revenues were,
in fact, higher than the initial plan, despite the shortage in
the state receipts from the oil and gas sector.
The actual receipts from oil and gas exports fell short of the
target by nearly 18 percent to Rp 12.50 trillion due to drops in
oil prices, the minister said.
Revenues from the oil and gas sector in the 1993/1994 budget
were based on a reference price of US$18 per barrel. Actual oil
prices, however, reached less than $14.50 per barrel throughout
most of the year.
The actual spending on routine activities, such as government
salaries, exceeded the initial target by around 8.8 percent to Rp
40.28 trillion, while spending on development projects surpassed
the target by nearly 12 percent to Rp 28.42 trillion.
The government set aside around Rp 3 trillion in standby
reserves in 1994 to finance a possible shortfall in state
revenues.
The minister said that part of the standby reserves, which
were accumulated from the budget surplus in the previous fiscal
years, had been used to finance the 1993/1994 budget shortage.
"This reduced the standby funds to around Rp 2.3 trillion," he
said.
The 1992/1993 budget also suffered a deficit of around Rp
551.2 billion for similar reasons. (hen)