Flexible Fiscal Policy to Face the Pandemic 6/17/2021 4:32:18 PM

Jakarta, 17/06/2021 MoF - Vice Minister of Finance (Wamenkeu) Suahasil Nazara emphasized the importance of flexible fiscal policies in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the priorities is the flexibility of budget implementation.

'The implementation of the budget is very flexible. For example, we can add social assistance because currently many people are in need. But that does not mean increasing overall government spending. We re-prioritize our spending,' said the Vice Minister of Finance at 'A Virtual Launch of Indonesia Economic Prospects June 2021 Report', Thursday (17/06).

Fiscal policy flexibility does not mean continuing with a higher deficit or changing the deficit from one day to another. Many programs could emerge and the government would have to have discussions on different policy recommendations and possibly fiscal impacts.

'Fiscal policy must be flexible because consumption can rise, but it can fall very quickly, as well as investment, exports and imports. So, fiscal policy must be very flexible. How we should do the fiscal response does not mean we continue to increase spending. It is very important to have a good sense of priorities,' said the Vice Minister of Finance.

The government cannot predict when the COVID-19 pandemic will end and how it will impact the economy in the future. The Vice Minister of Finance assured that the fiscal will be very ready to remain flexible by maintaining the integrity of the overall budget.

'We hope to maintain and gradually the economic growth will recover, the fiscal deficit will continue to decrease. We hope that the reduction in the fiscal deficit will in line with an increase in consumption and investment so that it will support overall economic growth,' concluded the Vice Minister of Finance. (dep/ip/hpy)

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Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia published this content on 17 June 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 17 June 2021 19:11:03 UTC.