Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 -- Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has blamed state-owned PT Pertamina for contributing to the country's fiscal malaise.
Indrawati said Indonesian state income for 2005 totaled 495.4 trillion rupiah, which was 44.7 trillion rupiah below the target set in the state budget.
She said the country's economy expanded by 5.8% in 2005, below the target of 6%, and inflation was 17.1%, well above the target of 8%.
Indrawati told legislators that the failure of Pertamina to meet its financial obligations to the government was one of the causes of the shortfall.
On Feb. 6, the Indonesian government announced that the country produced 955,000 b/d of oil and condensate in 2005, missing its targeted output for the year by 120,000 b/d.
The same day, Cyril Noerhadi, finance director of Indonesian oil and gas company PT Medco Energi Internasional, said the country is unlikely to raise its planned output to 1.3 million b/d of crude by 2009 due to the lack of exploration and development (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2006).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].