APBN Deficit Nearly 1 Percent in Quarter I-2026, Deputy Minister of Finance: This Is Indeed By Design

Deputy Minister of Finance, Juda Agung, explained that the APBN deficit in the first quarter of 2026 reached 0.93 percent. (Photo: Okezone.com/Kemenkeu)

JAKARTA – Deputy Minister of Finance, Juda Agung, explained that the APBN deficit in the first quarter of 2026 which reached 0.93 percent was part of the government’s strategy to accelerate economic growth through increasing state spending. According to Juda, government consumption in the first quarter of 2026 grew 21.81 percent, thereby leading to a widening of the fiscal deficit.

“Kita tahu di triwulan satu, konsumsi pemerintah tumbuh cukup tinggi, 21,81 persen, sehingga defisitnya 0,93 persen. Ini memang by design. Pemerintah ingin pertumbuhan ekonomi itu bukan di akhir tahun,” said Juda at the Central Development Coordination Meeting which was held online, Thursday (7/5/2026).

According to Juda, the government has targeted economic improvement since the beginning of the quarter. Thus, the accumulation of fiscal intervention will be visible at the end of the year which represents economic growth. “Kalau pola-pola biasanya, itu belanja baru meningkat di triwulan empat. Nah, sekarang ini mulai triwulan satu juga sudah mulai kita dorong,” he said.

He claimed that the fiscal deficit, which almost touched 1 percent of GDP in the first quarter of this year, would not necessarily reach more than 3 percent by the end of 2026 or exceed the threshold for state financial resilience as mandated by law. The government is currently taking a number of steps to reduce the deficit while ensuring that fiscal instruments do not significantly affect the posture of the APBN.

“Dari sisi pembiayaan defisitnya, kami juga masih on track, masih terjaga dengan baik. Pembiayaan utangnya sudah mencapai 31,1 persen yaitu Rp258 triliun. Defisit fiskal kami bisa kita jaga di bawah 3 persen,” he said.