English | 简体中文 | 繁體中文 | 한국어 | 日本語
Tuesday, 25 June 2019, 21:00 HKT/SGT
Share:
Indonesia Needs an Overhaul in Infrastructure Financing

JAKARTA, June 25, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Public Works and People's Housing (PUPR), has planned to build 732 kilometres (km) of national routes in 2019. The construction includes a toll road reaching up to 218 km in length. This would bring the total length of national roads built between 2015 and 2019 to 4,119 km.

While this is excellent news for the country, many have highlighted the economic risks that the current financial structuring of these plans may pose for the economy.

Leading infrastructure expert Shadik Wahono claims that to minimize long term financial risk, the government should pay attention to the investment schemes for infrastructure. Presently, the government begins construction first, and then searches for an investor and makes regulation.

Shadiq, who has undertaken various toll projects himself, said the government must consider several points in future. The first is related to the return of investment or ROI. Currently, toll road development carried out by Indonesian state-owned enterprises must be in the context of ROI. "Otherwise, they will lose money later," he said.

He explained that before posting a loss, SOEs will usually look for additional loans or reimbursement from banks or bond issuance. If not, then the financial costs will continue to undermine the value of the project, and in the end, if it is sold, it is not necessarily the result of sales not able to pay back what has been spent. "Of course this method is not healthy," he explained.

In addition, many infrastructure projects have not yet shifted from traditional infrastructure financing from the era of the early 70s and 80s. During that time, several developed countries assisted donor agencies, often making development costs very expensive and slow due to the inclusion of foreign interests in return to the aid.

According to recent comments in the media by Bappenas, Indonesia's Development Planning Board, the country plans to spend US$412 billion on infrastructure during the next five years. Up to 65% will be funded directly by the government or through SOEs.

If the government's fiscal strength is very high, the government can build whatever infrastructure it wants. For Indonesia, however, this isn't the case. The country's external debts reached US$387 billion at the end of 1Q19. This makes it hard for the government and SOEs to shoulder such expenditure.

In limited fiscal capacity, the government still has to build infrastructure to support economic growth, namely by an overhaul on the financing structure. In this case, the government must again pay attention to investment discipline.

"The government must be able to provide adequate support so that infrastructure projects offered to the private sector can have an attractive risk-return profile with a level of ROI that is in line with the demands of the financial market," Shadik concluded.

Media inqueries:
Mr. Arri Akbar
+62 81808270990

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: Transport & Logistics, Daily News, Construct, Engineering, Local Biz, Government
https://www.acnnewswire.com
From the Asia Corporate News Network


Copyright © 2025 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.

 

Latest Press Releases
HKTDC 4Q25 Export Confidence Index: 2026 Hong Kong Export Growth of 8-9%, Sustained AI product demand lays solid foundation for future expansion  
Friday, December 12, 2025 10:15:00 PM
Everest Medicines Announces Commercialization Service Agreement and License Agreement with Hasten  
Dec 12, 2025 14:35 HKT/SGT
Anime Tokyo Station: A Series of Linked Events to Be Held in Conjunction with the Anniversary Joint Exhibition  
Friday, December 12, 2025 10:00:00 AM
CMS (867/8A8): NDA of Innovative Drug Y-3 for Injection for Acute Ischemic Stroke Accepted in China  
Dec 11, 2025 20:00 HKT/SGT
Focus Graphite Achieves 99.9996 wt.% Ultra-High Purity and 2.03 ppm EBC in Follow-On Testing  
Dec 11, 2025 18:09 HKT/SGT
Nasdaq Verafin Joins Global Anti-Scam Alliance  
Dec 11, 2025 14:21 HKT/SGT
Dr. Teck Lim Chia, Chairman and CEO of CBL International, Honored at the Prestigious Directors of the Year Awards  
Dec 11, 2025 12:54 HKT/SGT
Cloudbreak Pharma Soars 80%+ on Multiple Catalysts, Driving Value Re-Rating  
Dec 11, 2025 08:20 HKT/SGT
Indonesian Government's Swift Response in Recovering Flood-hit Sumatra  
Dec 10, 2025 23:30 HKT/SGT
TIS Helps Treasury Teams Navigate the Ongoing ISO 20022 Transition After the 2025 Banking Deadline  
Dec 10, 2025 21:00 HKT/SGT
More Press release >>
 Events:
More events >>
Copyright © 2025 ACN Newswire - Asia Corporate News Network
Home | About us | Services | Partners | Events | Login | Contact us | Cookies Policy | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Terms of Use | RSS
US: +1 214 890 4418 | China: +86 181 2376 3721 | Hong Kong: +852 8192 4922 | Singapore: +65 6549 7068 | Tokyo: +81 3 6859 8575