Health Ministry's 2025 Budget Realisation Hits Five-Year Low Amid Spending Blocks

The Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) has revealed that its 2025 budget realisation is the lowest in the past five years. This was conveyed by Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin during a Hearing Meeting with Commission IX of the Indonesian House of Representatives regarding the Ministry of Health’s Financial Report for the 2025 Fiscal Year on Monday (20/7). In his presentation, the Minister explained that the ministry’s spending realisation reached Rp94.6 trillion, or 82.9% of the total Rp114.1 trillion budget ceiling. This percentage is the lowest compared to the previous five years. Budi stated that the low realisation was influenced by a budget block of Rp12.3 trillion. “If the budget block of Rp12.3 trillion is excluded from the calculation, the realisation against the effective ceiling reaches around 93%, which is even better than 2022,” Budi said during the meeting. He requested that the budget blocking mechanism be clarified from the outset so that work units do not delay programme execution. “If the budget cannot be used, it is better to withdraw it directly rather than blocking it for too long, which confuses our colleagues in the field,” he said. Data shows that from the total ceiling of Rp114.07 trillion, a budget of Rp12.33 trillion was blocked, leaving an effective ceiling of Rp101.74 trillion. The largest blocked budgets included the tuberculosis control programme, cervical cancer screening, and the procurement of health equipment. The ministry also reported that there was an unspent budget of Rp7.1 trillion from the effective ceiling. Most of this unspent amount, Rp2.67 trillion, came from foreign loans for projects where the procurement process is still ongoing and contracts were only signed at the end of 2025. Despite the low realisation, Minister Budi noted that non-tax state revenue increased, reaching Rp23.09 trillion, up approximately 9% from the previous year. This increase was mainly driven by revenue from Public Service Agencies, particularly government hospitals. The ministry’s total assets also rose to Rp128.06 trillion.