Kopdes Employees' Salaries Will Not Increase State Debt, Purbaya Reveals the Source
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has assured that the budget for salaries of employees and managers of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives (KDMP), covered by the state budget for two years, will not cause the fiscal deficit to swell.
He stated that the salary budget requirements will thus not come from additional state debt, but rather from the remaining unused development budget for Kopdes Merah Putih within one fiscal year.
“We ultimately have to pay for the next two years, right? That’s part of the Kopdes funds that haven’t been fully used; we’ll put everything into that first. So there’s no new addition to new funds, no addition to the deficit in the APBN. Because it’s already allocated there, we just need to tidy it up a bit,” said Purbaya at his office in Jakarta on Monday (11/5/2026).
Purbaya explained that the total development budget for Kopdes Merah Putih is indeed substantial, leaving room to be utilised for salaries of employees and Kopdes managers, numbering around 30,000 people.
However, he has not yet disclosed the total annual budget needs for the salary requirements.
“The instalments alone are Rp 40 trillion, and not all of the instalments have been used, right? It might be taken from there, from the APBN there,” Purbaya elaborated.
For information, the amount of income to be received by managers of Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives has not yet been announced by the government. Amid the recruitment process now entering the competency selection stage, certainty on the salary nominal is still being discussed at the central government level.
Deputy Minister of Cooperatives (Wamenkop) Farida Farichah stated that determining the income scheme for these cooperative managers is the authority of Finance Minister (Menkeu) Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa through his institution. Therefore, her side cannot yet reveal the range of figures that selected participants will receive.
“Please confirm with the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu); we’re waiting for the process there,” Farida said during a press conference at her office in Jakarta on Friday (8/5/2026).
Farida also declined to confirm whether the income standard for Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperative managers will later be equivalent to employees in the State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) environment. According to her, all details regarding salary components are still being finalised by the government.
“It’s being prepared at the Ministry of Finance,” she said.
On the other hand, Minister of Cooperatives (Menkop) Ferry Juliantono provided a hint that the financing for salaries of Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperative managers is likely to come from the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN). However, he emphasised that the final decision remains with the Ministry of Finance.
“It’s still being discussed at the Ministry of Finance. (The salary budget from APBN?) From the Ministry of Finance, meaning from there, more or less like that,” Ferry said.