Jakarta, Aug 15 (Antara) -- The government is paying serious attention to regional development in the country, as is evident from the significant amount of funds allocated for the purpose in the draft state budget for 2016.
As much as Rp782.2 trillion, which is 58.4 percent of the Rp1,339.1 trillion budget set for central government expenditures, was allocated for regional development.
"Funds to be transferred to regions and villages amounts to Rp782.2 trillion," President Joko Widodo said while presenting the government statement on the draft state budget for 2016 before the plenary session of the House of Representatives on Friday.
On Wednesday, President Joko Widodo, who is fondly called Jokowi, unveiled the government's 2016 budget plan amounting to Rp2,121.3 trillion. Of the total, Rp1,339.1 was allocated for central government expenditures and Rp782.2 trillion for transfer to regions, including village funds.
According to Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, the allocation of Rp782.2 trillion as regional and village funds was Rp117.6 trillion more than the Rp664.6 trillion allocated in the revised state budget for 2015.
"The allocation for regional and village funds is larger than the Rp780.4 trillion set aside for ministries/institutions. This is part of efforts to strengthen the role of regions in providing public services and improving the welfare of the people," the finance minister explained at a press conference on Friday.
The central government expenditures include an allocation of Rp780.4 trillion for ministries/institutions and of Rp558.7 trillion for non-ministries/institutions.
While the 2016 budget share for regional funds was raised to Rp782.2 trillion, that for ministries/institutions dropped by Rp15.1 trillion, from Rp795.5 trillion in the revised state budget for 2015 to Rp780.4 trillion.
"This marks a change in the pattern of expenditures, favoring regions and the people now. The policy indicates that Indonesia has undertaken a decentralization process. That is why the amount of funds for regional development is higher," he pointed out.
Of the Rp782.2 trillion, Rp710.8 trillion is a balancing fund, while the remaining Rp47 trillion is village funds. As much as Rp19.5 trillion is meant for special autonomy and the Yogyakarta Special Region, and Rp5 trillion is a regional incentive fund.
Regarding the funds to be transferred for regions and villages, the government will carry out numerous improvements, including formulating a system of transfer of funds, increasing the allocation for special transfer of funds, and implementing a reward and punishment system.
In addition, the allocation of village funds for 2016 was raised by 6.4 percent (from fund transfers to regions and from other sources), to meet the required 10 percent share in 2017.
"With this estimate, villages will receive Rp628.5 million from the state budget, excluding from the regional government budget. If all factors are taken into account, each village can receive Rp1 billion," Brodjonegoro stated.
Furthermore, National Development Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil said that to receive the allocated funds, regions should exhibit good budget absorption.
If a regional government is slow in absorbing funds, he added, it will not receive the special allocation, or will receive only a small part of it.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, he affirmed that President Jokowi will issue a presidential instruction regarding the transfer of the special allocation funds (DAK) for 2016.
The realization of DAK will depend on the performance of the regional governments concerned in carrying out budget absorption.
The criteria for assessing their performance include budget absorption capability in 2015, good governance, and the auditing results of the State Audit Board.
"There is a punishment. A regional government will not get DAK if it does not perform well, or it will get only a small amount of it. There will be several indicators that will be checked to measure it," Djalil pointed out.
The minister gave the explanations in response to the increase in the regional funds. It was raised from Rp664.6 trillion in 2015 to Rp782.2 trillion in the draft state budget for 2016.
He added that the regional funds for 2016 included a new DAK allocation, which was designed for the development of basic infrastructure.
"The new DAK allocation is meant for the development of special public infrastructure such as village roads, the fisheries sector, transportation and others," he noted.
Djalil also pointed out that in the draft state budget for 2016, each district will receive Rp100 billion as DAK allocation.
Therefore, with the increase in the funds allocated for regions, regional governments should improve their performance, the minister remarked.
One indicator of better performance will be the lack of unused regional government funds in banks.
After all, Djalil stated, the government has kept its promise of fiscal decentralization by increasing the amount of funds to be transferred for regions and villages in the draft budget for 2016.
Furthermore, it is for the first time that this allocation is higher than the funding set aside for ministries/institutions.
Of the Rp782.2 trillion allocated as regional and village funds, Djalil noted, there is a village fund that was raised to Rp47 trillion from Rp20.8 trillion in 2015; a balancing fund of Rp710.8 trillion; a fund for special autonomy and the Yogyakarta Special Region of Rp19.5 trillion; and a regional incentive fund of Rp5 trillion. ***3***(T.A014/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 15-08-2015 20:32: |
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