Indonesian spending on 2023 infrastructure to reach up to Rp417.7 trillion

Jakarta, June 1 (ANTARA) - Infrastructure spending in 2023 will be in the range of Rp367.7 trillion to Rp417.7 trillion (US$25.15 billion to US$28.57 billion), or higher than in 2020 and 2021, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has projected. The budget for the construction of the new capital city (IKN) in East Kalimantan province will also be included in the spending, she informed. However, she did not specify the exact value of the construction budget. "In 2022, we will start to build the city, and it will also be accelerated in 2023," she said during a meeting with the Budget Board of the Indonesian House of Representatives here on Tuesday (May 31, 2022). The state budget used to develop the IKN in 2023 will be utilized to establish important facilities such as basic infrastructure and several main government buildings. Hence, the development budget will be channeled through a number of ministries and institutions, such as the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, Transportation Ministry, Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry, as well as the National Police. "The budget has been allocated to the Defense Ministry and the National Police since the security and defense facilities of the IKN must be developed from the beginning (of the construction), as well as health and education facilities,” the minister noted. In accordance with President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi’s) directives, the infrastructures whose development will be prioritized in 2023 will be the ones that can be completed during the year or by the first half of 2024. "It is the government’s accountability in accelerating the development of the infrastructure, including drinking water, waste treatment, food, energy, road, as well as informatics and communication infrastructure," Indrawati said. The facilities must continue to be built to increase Indonesia’s productivity. "Although we have (massively) built the infrastructures during the last nine years, Indonesia’s infrastructure readiness is still left behind our neighboring countries or other emerging countries," the minister added.