The Ministry of Defense Receives the Largest Budget Allocation in the 2020 State Budget

The Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan) received the largest budget allocation in the 2020 Draft State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (RAPBN), totaling Rp 127.4 trillion. This figure represents a 16.2% increase compared to the 2019 projection of Rp 109.6 trillion.

Furthermore, Kemenhan's budget allocation surpassed that of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), which had the largest allocation in the 2019 projection. The Ministry of PUPR's budget allocation in the RAPBN 2020 is Rp 120.2 trillion, a 1.2% increase from the 2019 projection of Rp 118.8 trillion.

The increase in Kemenhan's budget is in line with the increased budget for security and defense in preparation for the simultaneous regional head elections (Pilkada) in 240 regions next year. The third largest budget recipient is the Indonesian National Police (Polri), receiving an allocation of Rp 90.3 trillion. However, this allocation is a 4.2% decrease compared to the 2019 projection of Rp 94.3 trillion.

The next highest budget allocations are for the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag) and the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos), at Rp 65.1 trillion and Rp 62.8 trillion respectively. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani explained that these figures are not yet final. For example, the education budget is still awaiting input from the relevant ministries for several programs that need further refinement. In the RAPBN 2020, the budget allocation for the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education is Rp 42.2 trillion, and for the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemdikbud) it is Rp 35.7 trillion.

(Read Databoks: How much was Indonesia's Ministry of Defense budget in 2019?)