August 20, 2025 | 06:00 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Legal, Democracy, and Human Rights Manager of the National Secretariat of the Forum Indonesia for Budget Transparency (Seknas FITRA), Gulfino Guevarrato, criticized the Indonesian government's 2026 state revenue and expenditure budget plan (RAPBN), which still focuses on improving tax administration and non-tax state revenue (PNBP). According to Gulfino, the government is not yet ready to expand new instruments to increase state revenue.
He said the government should optimize the digital economy's potential, implement green taxation, and utilize non-oil and gas natural resources. "There is great potential in these sectors, but the government is not yet ready to expand state revenue instruments in that direction," he said in the discussion "Fiscal for the Future" in Baca, Tebet, Jakarta, Wednesday, August 20, 2025.
He also highlighted the ambiguity in the implementation of state revenue policies related to environmental issues. Gulfino said that although the RAPBN mentions environmental sustainability, it lacks clear indicators for measuring the percentage of state revenue generated by green or low-carbon sectors.
"The RAPBN 2026 does not present a clear green fiscal roadmap. The government only provides a general statement about preserving the environment without concrete steps," Gulfino emphasized.
Gulfino warned that if state revenue still relies on sectors that pose a risk to the environment, this will threaten the environmental ecosystem if not balanced with strict regulations. "This could be a threat to future development, sustainability, and environmental preservation," he said.
Furthermore, Gulfino also highlighted various government priority programs. He mentioned that these priority programs burden the state finances. "As a consequence, the state has to borrow. Even in the RAPBN 2026, a debt interest payment of Rp599.4 trillion has been planned," Gulfino said.
He emphasized that without sustainable fiscal reform, the RAPBN 2026 will only increase the debt burden and fail to steer Indonesia's economy towards a green transition.
Previously, President Prabowo Subianto had announced the posture of the 2026 state revenue and expenditure budget (APBN). The deficit is designed to reach Rp638.8 trillion or 2.48 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Meanwhile, next year's state expenditure is allocated to Rp3,786.5 trillion, and state revenue is targeted at Rp3,147.7 trillion. The posture of the 2026 APBN was announced by the head of state in the financial note speech and the Draft Law on the 2026 APBN in Jakarta, Friday, August 15, 2025.
"The government I lead promises to continue carrying out efficiency measures to minimize the deficit as much as possible," he said.
In his presentation, Prabowo revealed his aspiration to realize an APBN without a deficit. "My hope, my dream, is that someday, whether in 2027 or 2028, I want to stand in front of this assembly, at this podium, to say that we have successfully had an APBN without any deficit," he said.
Ilona Estherina contributed to the writing of this article
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