Prabowo Subianto, the prospective presidential candidate from the Coalition for Indonesia's Progress, has proposed a reformation of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) as one of the programs he is offering.

The Defense Minister claims that the lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Indonesia compared to neighboring countries is due to the inefficiency of the state's financial management. He believes that Indonesia shares many similarities with neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Prabowo, a politician from the Gerindra Party, has designed a program that would separate the Directorate General of Taxation (DJP) and the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (BC) from the MoF and establish them as the State Revenue Body.

"I believe this is a management issue. With effective management in the DJP and BC, we can improve our national revenue," Prabowo stated during a discussion with 100 Indonesian Economists in South Jakarta on Wednesday (8/11).

"If we look at revenue as a percentage of our GDP, we are lagging behind Cambodia, with our government revenue to GDP at 18 percent, while Cambodia is also at 18 percent. Malaysia and Thailand are approaching 20 percent, and Vietnam has already reached 20 percent," Prabowo added.

According to Prabowo, the separation of the MoF from the DJP and BC would not make Indonesia the first country to do so, as similar steps have been taken by many developed nations, although Prabowo did not specify these countries.

"We need to be willing to learn from the experiences of others. In many places, advanced countries have separated the policy-making function of the MoF from tax collection and revenue collection," he explained.

In the data presented by Prabowo, Indonesia's Government Revenue to GDP is 11.8 percent, lower than Cambodia's 18.1 percent, Malaysia's 15.1 percent, Thailand's 18.5 percent, and Vietnam's 18.2 percent.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's tax-to-GDP ratio stands at 9.1 percent, which is lower than Cambodia's 16.4 percent, Malaysia's 11.2 percent, Thailand's 14.3 percent, and Vietnam's 12.9 percent.