Former Finance Minister Says State Budget Is Safe, Praises Purbaya's Performance

Former Finance Minister Fuad Bawazier has said that the state budget (APBN) deficit has shown improvement. He also expressed appreciation for the performance of Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa. “The deficit to GDP has improved, hasn’t it. From 0.9, now it’s 0.6. There has been an improvement,” Fuad said during a CNBC Indonesia KONEKSI event, quoted on Thursday (11/6/2026). Despite the improvement in the deficit, Fuad believes the government still has homework to do, namely increasing state revenues. “To be honest, in my view, revenues must be raised,” he said. One way to achieve this, he suggested, is for the government to be firm in punishing those who plunder Indonesia’s natural resources. “I am sure there is no other country in the world that is plundered like we are. None,” he stated. The second method is through the securitisation of natural resource potential, which would also help maintain the rupiah exchange rate in the long term. Fuad also mentioned the need for budget efficiency, from small to large items, such as official travel. “Efficiency, from the small to the large, there are still many things that can be done, for example, unnecessary things. Official travel, usually,” Fuad added. As of May 2026, the APBN deficit had increased slightly to Rp 180.4 trillion, or 0.70% of GDP. This figure is slightly higher than the Rp 164.4 trillion, or 0.64% of GDP, recorded at the end of April 2026.