Jakarta: Padjadjaran University (Unpad) defense expert Muradi assessed the Defense Ministry's budget of Rp131.2 trillion was not ideal. He asked Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was asked to try and increase the defense budget for the following years.
"It's on the track, but the budget isn't ideal yet," Muradi told Medcom.id on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.
Muradi said the Ministry of Defense should have a budget of 2 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP). Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency, Indonesia's GDP in 2018 amounted to Rp14,837.4 trillion.
"(The ideal budget) is in the range of Rp270 trillion to Rp290 trillion," Muradi said.
Muradi added that the current budget was not only allocated to the Ministry of Defense. The figure was also distributed to the branches of the armed forces.
Muradi compared Indonesia's defense budget with other countries in Southeast Asia. He said that Malaysia spends 4 percent of its GDP on defense. In the meantime, Vietnam spends 8 percent of its GDP on defense.
Murdi said that Indonesia only had a larger budget when compared to the Philippines, Cambodia, and Thailand. They only spend around 1 percent of their GDP on defense.
Meanwhile, Muradi asked Prabowo to use the available budget optimally. He hopes that in the next fiscal year the Ministry of Defense’s budget can increase to 2 percent of Indonesia’s GDP.
"Pak Prabowo must convince all parties to increase the defense budget to Rp290 trillion per year," concluded Muradi.
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