Firm stand: Sri Mulyani with Jokowi (left) and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at a summit in Osaka, Japan. The minister has declared her non-involvement in the transition team as it works ahead of the elections results announcement. — Reuters
JAKARTA: The administration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo looks set to accommodate the policies expected of the next government in its financial planning.
To ensure a smooth political transition later this year, a Cabinet meeting on the draft macroeconomic projection and financial policy (KEM-PPKF) on Monday reportedly also discussed the economic programmes proposed by the team of presumptive president Prabowo Subianto.
The draft is to be used for the 2025 state budget bill to be presented to the House of Representatives in August and is expected to be passed before Jokowi steps down in October.
While the official results of the Feb 14 general election are to be announced in March, pollsters’ quick count results point to the Defence Minister succeeding Jokowi.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto mentioned “continuity” as a paramount consideration for the KEM-PPKF, and hence “elements of the next government’s priority programmes” were included at Monday’s meeting towards more detailed discussions next month.
Airlangga, who also chairs the Golkar Party that backed Prabowo’s campaign, said that the cabinet meeting had discussed the free school lunch programme, one of the former general’s key campaign promises.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said calculations for the free lunch programme had been included in the KEM-PPKF’s 2025 budget deficit projection of between 2.45% and 2.8% of gross domestic product (GDP).
She added that another cabinet meeting would be held next month “where we can start identifying the next government’s priority programmes”, with a greater focus on spending ceilings for ministries.
The finance minister said communication between the outgoing and incoming governments “was paramount” to accommodating the next administration’s needs in the draft budget.
Last Friday, Sri Mulyani announced in an Instagram post that the “theme and focus” of Monday’s meeting would be “customised for the period of government transition”.
She also noted that the country’s becoming a developed economy by 2045 under the Golden Indonesia Vision still remained the underlying goal.
President Jokowi also underlined that financial planning must pay heed to the outcome of the general election.
“The government’s work plan and financial policy for 2025 are the bridge to maintaining development continuity and accommodating the programmes of the next president,” he said, as quoted by state-owned news agency Antara on Monday.
Meanwhile, the campaign team of presidential pair Prabowo and Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son, has expressed its readiness “to provide input” for the 2025 state budget bill, reflecting “Prabowo-Gibran’s programmes”.
“Politically, Prabowo-Gibran is continuing President Jokowi’s programmes,” campaign official Drajad Wibowo told The Jakarta Post last Thursday.
Drajad underscored the importance of policy continuity between incoming administrations to minimise the disruption that might necessitate issuing a state budget revision under the next government.
He clarified that legally, however, Jokowi’s Finance Ministry held responsibility and authority over the 2025 state budget and that “Prabowo’s campaign team has no right or obligation to participate” in related discussions or processes.
“The decision ultimately rests with Jokowi, Prabowo and Gibran, with the support of the Finance Minister and all Finance Ministry officials involved in discussions on the 2025 state budget bill,” Drajad said.
Executive director Bhima Yudhistira of the Centre of Economic and Law Studies said considering the government transition during the budget meeting was “very premature”, given that the official results were not yet in from the General Elections Commission.
He told The Post on Monday that a possible motivation for the move might be to bridge differences between the moderate macroeconomic framework formulated by Sri Mulyani and the ambitious targets of Prabowo’s team, including its 7% growth target and huge spending on programmes like the free lunch programme. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
