Seized Funds of Rp 11.4 Trillion Enter State Coffers: Can They Stem the Budget Deficit?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — President Prabowo Subianto witnessed the handover of funds from administrative fines and state financial recoveries amounting to Rp 11.4 trillion to the state treasury. This addition is deemed to strengthen Indonesia’s fiscal room.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said the seized funds could be utilised for various fiscal needs, from patching the deficit to continuing development programmes that had previously been cut.

“It can (patch the deficit) or we can use it mostly for development programmes that were cut earlier,” Purbaya said at the Attorney General’s Office on Friday (10/4/2026).

According to him, the funds are more appropriately positioned as part of law enforcement rather than as a primary instrument in the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN).

“Receipts from seizure results can help on a cash basis, but their nature is very uncertain, non-recurring, and difficult to project systematically,” said Yusuf on Monday (13/4/2026).

Therefore, he assessed that these receipts should be treated as an addition or bonus, not as a pillar for covering structural deficits.

He explained that the budget deficit is fundamentally a structural issue arising from the gap between limited state revenues and continuously increasing expenditure needs.

“In the context of the current pressured deficit, relying on sources like this is clearly insufficient and even risky if incorporated into overly optimistic planning,” he said.