Jakarta, Aug 16 (IANS) The Indonesian government plans to allocate a budget of 400.3 trillion rupiah (approximately 25.5 billion US dollars) 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 prioritized infrastructure development in remote areas, including 366,000 kilometers of village roads, 1.9 million meters of village bridges, and 2,700 kilometers of new toll roads. Additionally, 6,000 kilometers 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 percent to 14 percent of gross domestic product in 2023, Xinhua news agency reported.
The total state budget for next year is 3,613.1 trillion rupiah, including 722.6 trillion rupiah allocated for the education sector, 504.7 trillion rupiah for social protection, 197.8 trillion rupiah for health, and 124.4 trillion rupiah for food security.
