S&P Issues Warning to Finance Minister Purbaya on Debt Interest Burden

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has revealed a warning from the rating agency S&P Global Ratings regarding Indonesia’s fiscal condition. The warning pertains to the ratio of debt interest payments to state revenue. This was stated following a meeting with S&P in Washington DC, United States, on Tuesday (14/4/2026). S&P highlighted the interest payment ratio, which it deems necessary to control to avoid burdening future fiscal policy. “They gave a warning to discuss in more depth that the rating for interest payments compared to income is above 15 percent,” said Purbaya in his statement on Thursday (16/4/2026). “I said we will continue to monitor it and ensure the economy remains strong and our fiscal position does not deteriorate in terms of interest payments,” he added. S&P also delved into Indonesia’s fiscal condition in detail. The topics discussed included the budget deficit over the past two years and the commitment to maintaining the deficit. “They asked quite detailed questions about our fiscal condition, including this year’s and last year’s deficit, and mainly they wanted to see if we are consistent in keeping our deficit below 3 percent of GDP,” said Purbaya. The government emphasised maintaining fiscal discipline. The deficit target is assured to be below 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). “So I said we are consistent with that policy; our president has directed that our deficit is kept below 3 percent of GDP,” he stated. This figure could potentially drop to around 2.8 percent in the central government’s financial report. On the revenue side, the government recorded positive performance. Early-year tax growth was deemed sufficiently strong. “When we informed them that tax growth in the first month of this year reached 30 percent and in March, for January to March, it grew 20 percent,” said Purbaya.