Finance Minister Suahasil Reveals El Niño Mitigation Budget: State Budget Remains Flexible

Finance Minister Suaheral Nazara has revealed that the 2026 budget for disasters has already been prepared, including measures to mitigate the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon. However, budget flexibility is required to adapt to current conditions.

“In the 2026 State Budget (APBN), there is indeed budget allocated for disaster management. However, flexibility is highly necessary,” Suahasil told reporters after attending the Extraordinary Plenary Session of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) on Wednesday (16/09/2026).

Suahasil explained that such flexibility is essential to respond to ongoing disaster situations in Indonesia. “Budget flexibility is vital to ensure that funding is responsive to developing situations, such as natural disasters, droughts, and others. We must address these issues,” Suahasil explained.

She emphasised that the pressure from natural disasters must be addressed swiftly by the government so that affected communities do not endure prolonged hardship and loss. “The pressure from various unexpected events must be tackled immediately for the welfare of the people,” she added.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has stated that the current El Niño is occurring with very high intensity. This was revealed in the Atmospheric Dynamics Analysis for the first ten-day period of September 2026, released by BMKG on 14 September 2026.

According to the report, monitoring results for the first ten-day period of September 2026 show the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) index at +0.394, an increase from the August IOD which was also positive at 0.376. Meanwhile, the Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly (SSTA) value in the Nino 3.4 region for the ten-day period (monthly ENSO) is +2.76, a slight decrease from August’s +2.83. The ENSO index (3-month average) for July-August-September stands at 2.6.