JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani ensures that the State Budget (APBN) is maintained healthy and sustainable.

"The direction of fiscal policy for 2024 is fiscal or APBN (State Revenue and Expenditure Budget), namely tools to support development goals. However, like any tool you use in this world, including your cell phone (mobile phone), you have to look after it because if you use it carelessly, the tool is damaged, so it won't achieve your goal. In this context, we always balance between the desire to continue to support and sustain and achieve development goals while maintaining its own tool, namely the State Budget which must be maintained healthy and sustainable," he said, at the 2023 Central Development Coordination Meeting, quoted from Antara, Friday (7/4/2023).

Based on initial projections for 2024, economic growth is targeted to be in the range of 5.3-5.7%, inflation 1.5-3.5%, exchange rate of IDR 14,800-IDR 15,400, interest rate for Government Bonds (SUN) 10 years 6.5-7.4%.

Oil prices are USD 75-85 per barrel, oil lifting is 592-651 thousand barrels per day (bpd), and gas lifting is 1,007-1058 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

Then the poverty rate was reduced to 6.5-7.5%, the Open Unemployment Rate (TPT) 5-5.7%, the Gini ratio 0.375-0.377 points, the Human Development Index (IPM) 73.99-74.02 points, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 27.27 percent, NTN 107-110 points, and NTP 105-108 points.

"In the long term towards an advanced Indonesia in 2045, we must avoid the Middle Income Trap and pay attention to structural problems, such as unemployment, poverty, even including health issues which all must pay attention to. So we don't only talk about the quality of HR (Human Resources) through economic growth, but also talk about other important indicators," said the Minister of Finance.

President Joko Widodo also directed his staff to reduce extreme poverty, stunting rates, control inflation, and increase investment in 2024 so that development indicators get better.

The policy direction from the APBN side is strengthening the quality of human resources which includes the dimensions of education, health, basic infrastructure such as clean water. Next is increasing the added value of natural resources, strengthening deregulation and institutions, and infrastructure development in order to achieve the goal of reducing the Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR).

"If the bureaucracy is getting better, the infrastructure is credible and efficient, the human resources are getting better quality, then for every 1 rupiah capital investment the results will be much better. However, if the infrastructure is bad, the human resources are not qualified, and the regulations are convoluted, then 1 rupiah will not produce anything, it will only be spent on system inefficiencies," said Sri Mulyani.

Because of that, the President continues to emphasize his staff not to work business as usual or just a routine.

"This kind of mindset (not doing routine work) is what we keep trying, because in the end the added value is not a matter of the amount of capital expenditure, but whether the capital expenditure we make will produce something that is truly useful and most productive," he said.

News quoted taken from

https://economy.okezone.com/read/2023/04/07/320/2794757/sri-mulyani-infrastruktur-kredibel-dan-efisien-bikin-kualitas-sdm-semakin-baik?page=2