BNPB Seeks Foreign Loans to Boost Mitigation Efforts

Jakarta: Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is seeking additional funding through foreign loans to strengthen disaster prevention and mitigation efforts, citing limited allocations from the state budget, the agency’s head told parliament on Tuesday.

BNPB Head Suharyanto said spending on prevention remains constrained, prompting the agency to pursue approval for overseas borrowing to enhance preparedness and reduce future disaster risks.

“We are trying to maximize disaster management, particularly prevention and mitigation, because the state budget is limited,” Suharyanto said during a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta involving social and disaster-related stakeholders, as quoted by Antara on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.

He noted that BNPB’s annual prevention budget is relatively small—ranging from Rp17 billion (USD1.01 million) to Rp19 billion (USD1.13 million)—which limits the agency’s capacity to fund long-term risk reduction programs nationwide.

Over the past five years, several foreign loan facilities have been approved, Suharyanto said, helping to strengthen BNPB’s pre-disaster capabilities, particularly in mitigation and preparedness, which he described as essential to reducing future losses.

In addition to foreign loans, BNPB also utilizes its emergency standby fund—normally allocated for disaster response during emergency and alert phases—to support preventive measures in disaster-prone regions.

“Many disasters are recurring events, often affecting the same areas,” Suharyanto said, adding that emergency funds are also used to build preventive infrastructure to better prepare communities for potential future disasters.

BNPB is also working with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to develop earthquake and tsunami early warning systems, he told lawmakers.

According to Suharyanto, BNPB has secured foreign loans totaling Rp949.17 billion (USD56.59 million) to build operation control centers in all 34 provinces, as well as in 30 districts and cities.

Along coastlines frequently affected by earthquakes and tsunamis, sensors have been installed to detect rising sea levels and transmit early warnings to regional disaster agencies, while evacuation routes have also been established, he added.