JAKARTA: Indonesia posted a budget deficit of 379.3 trillion rupiah (USD20.81 billion) in the first 10 months of 2026, equivalent to 1.47 percent of gross domestic product, its Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara said on Friday.
Revenues in the January to October period reached 2,618 trillion rupiah, up 24 percent year on year, he said. Spending in total stood at 2,997.2 trillion rupiah, up almost 16 percent, he said.
The budget is on track to post a deficit of 2.85 percent of GDP in the full fiscal year of 2026, unchanged from its July projection, Suahasil said.
The government spent 415.8 trillion rupiah in that period on subsidies for fuel, electricity, fertilisers and micro loans, up 32 percent on an annual basis. For President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free school meals programme, 173.2 trillion rupiah was spent The government is still budgeting 500 trillion rupiah for energy subsidies for all of 2026, but it was open to spending more to keep fuel prices unchanged, said Sudarto, the director general of budgeting at the ministry.
Suahasil said bids during the ministry’s most recent regular bond auction have recovered and demand for foreign currency bonds was also good, reflecting investor confidence.