JAKARTA (XINHUA) – The Indonesian government plans to allocate a budget of IDR400.3 trillion (USD25.5 billion) for infrastructure development next year, including continuing the construction of infrastructure in the new capital city of Nusantara on Kalimantan Island.
President Joko Widodo presented the state budget plan during a plenary session at the Parliament building in Jakarta on Friday.
“The budget is particularly for education and health infrastructure, connectivity infrastructure, food and energy infrastructure, as well as sustainable development of the Nusantara capital,” Widodo said.
Widodo mentioned that over the past 10 years, Indonesia has prioritised infrastructure development in remote areas, including 366,000 kilometres (km) of village roads, 1.9 million metres of village bridges, and 2,700km of new toll roads. Additionally, 6,000km of national roads as well as 50 ports and airports have been built.
In addition to increasing the country’s competitiveness, Widodo added that the infrastructure development has reduced logistics costs from 24 per cent to 14 per cent of gross domestic product in 2023.
The total state budget for next year is IDR3,613.1 trillion, including IDR722.6 trillion allocated for the education sector, IDR504.7 trillion for social protection, IDR197.8 trillion for health, and IDR124.4 trillion for food security.
