The Finance Ministry is preparing a regulation in order to align the general allocation fund to the requirement in each region.
“This is what we are currently thinking. With such large amounts of the regional government’s budget still being kept in bank, we will conduct better arrangements,” Director General of Finance Balancing at the Finance Ministry Astera Primanto Bhakti stated during a media gathering in Sentul, West Java, on Thursday.
The regulation, which was set to be established in 2022, will help to align the funding in accordance with each region’s needs.
Reports from regional governments will also determine the time taken for allocating the funding. Such decision aims to ensure that the regional governments exercise discipline in utilizing their budget.
“Usually, reports that were sought pertained to the amount of funding for the staffs. We have the system, but we also request for self-declaration from the region(al government). There are regions that do not report (their financial situation, so) we need to cross check to see whether their use of the budget is in accordance or not,” he explained.
The government has all along allocated general fund twelve times a year, at every end of the month, to ensure that the regional government had the budget to pay the staff.
“The general allocation fund has become the largest fund transfer as compared to other (funding program). Attention should be paid to this. When you see it, the general allocation fund each month can increase or decrease, as there are requirements in the transfer,” he remarked.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati noted that the general allocation fund was capped at Rp216.7 trillion until June-end of 2022, or grew by five percent as compared to that during the same period in the previous year.
At the same time, the total government fund in banks was capped at Rp220.95 trillion, or increased 10.06 percent as compared to previous month. East Java recorded the biggest figure, at Rp29.82 trillion.
Source: Antara News