JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s parliamentary budget committee on Tuesday approved President Joko Widodo’s 2022 budget with total spending of about 2,714 trillion rupiah ($190.40 billion), representing a fiscal deficit equal to 4.85% of gross domestic product.

Said Abdullah, chairman of the committee, announced that the budget would support economic recovery in Indonesia next year. GDP was expected to increase 5.2%. This is despite the fact that the economy has recovered from the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak.

While the approved spending was less than what the president proposed at 2,708.7 trillion rupees in August, the overall revenue target for next year was set at 1,846 trillion rupees.

Jokowi (the president) stated in his budget proposal that it laid the foundation for cutting the deficit down to below 3% in 2023 according to the law.

The vote must still be taken in plenary, although the approval of the committee is often passed.

The hearing heard from Sri Mulyani indrawati, Finance Minister. She stated that next year will be a crucial year as she aims to sustain economic recovery and simultaneously implement efforts to improve the fiscal condition.

The economic outlook for the next year is “uncertainty and challenging,” she said, not only because of the pandemic, but also because many countries will be experiencing tightening their monetary policy.

In the second quarter, Southeast Asia’s largest economy came out of recession. The central bank reported last week that the domestic economy had improved steadily since August’s lifting of restrictions.

($1 = 14,255 rupiah)