Indonesia commits to ambitious defence budget increase

JAKARTA, -- Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) announced on 28 April a commitment to support government efforts to increase the country's defence budget to IDR200 trillion (USD15 billion) by 2020. The target is around double the IDR100 billion allocated to defence in 2015.

In comments published by the state-run Antara news agency, Ahmad Hanafi Rais, the vice chairman of the DPR's defence commission, said the commitment is in line with the government's stated pledge to increase military spending as a proportion of GDP from the existing 0.8% to 1.5%.

He added that the funds will be sourced from the state budget and will support an emphasis on military procurement in order to strengthen Indonesian territorial defence and security. Rais added: "This is our commitment to support the military to become better, stronger and more professional."

The DPR's commitment also conforms to a government pledge to reduce its part dependency on sourcing military procurement funds from export credit, loans, and military aid. Such fiscal mechanisms have long supported Indonesia's defence acquisitions and have been required to overcome the country's traditional shortfall in spending.