House Commission VII Appreciates ANTARA's Budget Increase in 2027 Work Plan

Jakarta - Chairman of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Saleh Partaonan Daulay, has expressed appreciation for the National News Agency (LKBN) ANTARA regarding an increase in its 2027 Work Plan and Budget (RKAP). He welcomed the agency’s spirit in projecting the RKAP to rise by approximately 30.67 percent in terms of budget. According to him, ANTARA needs to demonstrate that all planned programmes can be realised. “This is actually a spirit that I think needs to be appreciated,” Saleh said during a meeting with public broadcasting institutions at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Wednesday. However, he acknowledged that realising the RKAP would not be easy, especially given the tight competition in the media business. He requested ANTARA to outline the efforts it will undertake to achieve the target, “so that we are confident this can be achieved.” Meanwhile, ANTARA’s President Director, Benny Siga Butarbutar, stated that the agency is targeting a 30.67 percent increase in revenue, derived from public service obligation (PSO) income, commercial income, and subsidiary income. He said this revenue target is pursued as a step for ANTARA to become a bastion of state information amidst the heavy traffic of information and misinformation. ANTARA, he added, is striving to enhance the bargaining position of state information to counterbalance information circulating on social media and through homeless media.