Indonesia expects budget deficit of 1.9% for 2015

[JAKARTA] Indonesia is aiming to cut the country's budget deficit to 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product in 2015, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said on Friday, slightly lower than a previous estimate of 2 per cent.

On Jan 1, President Joko Widodo's government scrapped subsidies for petrol, letting pump prices rise and fall in line with the cost of crude oil.

The 2015 budget presented in September by Mr Joko's predecessor said fuel subsidies would cost 276 trillion rupiah (US$21.84 billion) and be 19.8 per cent of central government spending, but Mr Brodjonegoro now sees subsidy spending at 81 trillion rupiah.

REUTERS