Parliament will ensure 2026 national budget maintains living standards amid conflict
House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani delivered a statement during the Plenary Session of the Indonesian House of Representatives marking the Opening of the Fourth Session of the 2025–2026 Parliamentary Term at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday.
“Parliament will ensure that the fiscal capacity of the 2026 state budget remains able to protect and maintain the welfare and living standards of the people, ensuring that public welfare does not decline,” she said.
She continued that government budget policy must be able to maintain fiscal resilience that ensures citizens continue to have access to improved welfare and receive quality public services, whilst also feeling secure and peaceful.
Maharani raised concerns about fiscal capacity and resilience given the impact of geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, which she said would affect global economic stability, including Indonesia’s economy.
“This will affect oil prices, transportation costs, commodity prices, the rupiah-to-US-dollar exchange rate, trade chains, economic growth, and fiscal resilience in carrying out development,” she stated.
She reminded that at the same time, citizens continue to harbour great hopes that the state will create employment opportunities, strengthen the economy, and improve incomes and access to education and healthcare services.
In her address, Maharani noted that the world is witnessing geopolitical conflict involving military force. She described the tensions involving the United States, Israel, and Iran as reflecting international relations dynamics laden with strategic interests, regional security dominance, and global power competition.
She viewed the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran as reflecting not only competition of interests at the regional level but also representing major challenges for global governance going forward.
The escalation of military action, she argued, brings collective understanding that the current use of military force has disregarded the principle of respect for state sovereignty.
She also noted that the conflict escalation demonstrates dominance of certain countries over others, ignoring the role of multilateral institutions in preventing wider conflict, and the failure of the global security system to guarantee balanced interests between nations.
This situation, Maharani added, reaffirms the importance of strengthening international law, the role of international institutions in maintaining peace, justice, and global stability, and the right of nations to maintain their sovereignty.