Finance Minister: Additional Rp1.77 Trillion for Hajj Costs from State Budget

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that the additional budget of Rp1.77 trillion to cover the costs of aircraft for Hajj pilgrims comes from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN). “It’s from the APBN, as there are still reserves,” Purbaya said at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta on Wednesday. Purbaya explained that the reserve budget was obtained from efficiency results based on calculations over one year. These efficiency results, Purbaya said, can be used for positions that need it, one of which is for the additional costs of aircraft for Hajj pilgrims that have increased due to the surge in avtur prices. “We’ve already done efficiencies. I’m confident that the efficiencies calculated over the year, part of them until the end of the year. If the efficiencies are taken and put in one place, they will later be channelled to the new expenditures mentioned earlier,” he clarified. Previously reported, President Prabowo Subianto announced that the cost per Indonesian Hajj pilgrim candidate for 2026 remains reduced by Rp2 million, despite the rise in avtur prices. “We ensure that the Hajj cost for 2026 is lowered by around Rp2 million, even though avtur prices have risen,” President Prabowo said during a Government Working Meeting at the Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. In addition, in response to the increase in global avtur prices which impacts the rise in flight tariffs, the government will also provide financing support for 220,000 affected Hajj pilgrim candidates amounting to Rp1.77 trillion. The Indonesian Government and the Indonesian House of Representatives in 2025 have set the Hajj Operational Cost (BPIH) for 2026 to remain reduced by Rp2 million, so the amount this year reaches Rp87,409,366 per pilgrim.