Purbaya Assures No Additional State Budget Deficit for Funding Village Cooperatives

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has assured that the government will not add to the state budget (APBN) deficit to support the financing of the Village Cooperatives (Kopdes) programme.

According to Purbaya, funding sources will utilise allocations that are already available and not fully utilised, including financing through banks in the State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara).

“There will be no new funds added to the APBN, no new additional deficit. Because it has already been allocated there,” said Purbaya during a media briefing at the Ministry of Finance on Monday (11/5/2026).

The figure is equivalent to 0.93 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and approaches the 1 per cent threshold.

Nevertheless, Purbaya emphasised that the APBN condition up to the first quarter of 2026 remains stable and controlled, both in terms of state revenue and expenditure.

He explained that payments for the Kopdes programme will be made gradually over two years.

Unutilised funds from the Kopdes financing bill position will be prioritised before the government seeks new funding sources.

Purbaya also noted that financing from Himbara still has substantial room, as the prepared ceiling has not been fully absorbed.

“Himbara financing or its instalments must be Rp 40 trillion, meaning not all has been used yet. It might be taken from there,” he said.

Previously, Director General of Financial Balance at the Ministry of Finance Askolani confirmed that the APBN will be used to pay salaries for employees of the Merah Putih Village Cooperatives in the initial phase.

This scheme is used as a bridge to keep cooperative operations running before they generate their own revenue.

“For the first two years, it will be endeavoured from the APBN,” said Askolani at the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday (5/5/2026).

The employee recruitment process involves several ministries and agencies. Selection stages, including the Computer Assisted Test, are coordinated by the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) and the Ministry of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (Kemenpan-RB).