Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has urged regional governments to anticipate problems related to budget management so that transfers to regional and village funds can be optimized to support COVID-19 handling and national economic recovery.

“I still see that the regional budgets (APBD) are not 100-percent optimized, synergized with the state budget. So, when the state budget wants to enhance the economy, many of the regional budgets are actually held back, therefore, the process is not as optimal and fast as we want,” she said in an official statement received here on Tuesday.

Regional and village budgets must be utilized for strategic expenditures, such as improving the quality of public infrastructure, economic recovery, human resource development, and the quality of public services, in order to contribute to the same things as the national budget, the minister added.

Data on the realization of the 2021 National Budget pegs current regional and village budget spending at Rp785.7 trillion, or 98.8 percent of the national budget target of Rp795.5 trillion, she noted.

“There is still Rp100 trillion until the end of the year that has not been spent. This is a fairly large number which can better the regional economy, so perhaps this should be our concern,” Indrawati said.

Almost one-third of the national budget is given to all regional governments in the form of profit-sharing funds, general allocation funds, special physical and non-physical allocation funds, regional incentive funds, village funds, and special autonomy funds, she pointed out.

She then urged regional governments to continuously improve budget spending as a means to support economic recovery in the regions. This can be done by optimizing the budget for infrastructure and operations, she said.

“The regional and village budget is our instrument to support local governments in doing their functions, not burdening them (instead). (The budget is meant) to serve the community,” Indrawati remarked.

Source: Antara News