Jakarta - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono unveiled Friday a draft state budget for the fiscal year 2009, forecasting economic growth of 6.2 per cent.

In a state of the nation address ahead the August 17 independence day, Yudhoyono said the government's revenues and grants in the 2009 draft state budget would amount to 1,022.6 trillion rupiah (112.37 billion dollars), while the total expenditures were forecast at 1,222.2 trillion rupiah (134.3 billion dollars).

Yudhoyono said the 2009 budget marked a 14.3-per-cent increase compared with the 2008 revised budget, predicting a budget deficit of 1.9 per cent of GDP, which will be mostly funded from domestic sources - mainly derived from the issuance of government bonds.

Revenues from taxes were expected to increase to 726.3 trillion rupiah, a 19.2-per-cent increase from 2008 revised budget, and revenues from the non-tax sector would amount to 295.3 trillion rupiah, Yudhoyono said.

Under the 2009 draft budget, the government would spend a total of 227.2 trillion rupiah on subsidies, including a 101.4-trillion-rupiah subsidy for fuel oil, he said.

"The global oil price remains volatile and is extremely difficult to predict," Yudhoyono said, adding that the selected average oil price at 100 dollars per barrel is a "reflection of the latest world oil price movements and the latest projection."

Yudhoyono forecast economic growth of 6.2 per cent in 2009 for South-East Asia's biggest economy, compared with the government's 6.0 -6.4 per cent growth forecast for 
2008.

In his speech, Yudhoyono, whose term expires next year and who is widely expected to run for re-election, emphasized his administration's priorities, including the fight against corruption, improved security and economic performance, as well as spending on poverty alleviation.

"Since the outset of my administration, I have emphasised that corruption eradication occupied a high priority. The manifestation of a corrupt-free Indonesia must gain support from all of us," he said. "This is the only way that Indonesia can enhance its dignity in the eyes of the world."

The draft budget also estimated the country's crude oil production in 2009 would average 950,000 barrels per day, with oil prices on the international market averaging 100 dollars per barrel.

Soaring oil prices on international markets forced Yudhoyono to raise subsidised fuel prices in May in a bid to slash the ballooning subsidy bill.

Yudhoyono praised the country's achievement of regaining self -sufficiency in rice, the first time since end of of former president Suharto's rule in 1998, that national rice production surpassed the country's rice consumption.

"We should actually be grateful, because the food situation in our country is relatively better than in many other countries," Yudhoyono said. "In the midst of the current global food crisis, we must reinforce our national food stock." (dpa)