Indonesian Regional Governments Are Sleeping on Funds Worth Rp 123 Trillion

JAKARTADAILY.ID – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that the total Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) that remained in banks until the end of 2022 reached Rp 123 trillion and was not used throughout the current year.

The President reminded all regional heads to plan programs in their regions before the current year. It is urgent to do this because the remaining funds are classified as SiLPA or excess budget financing. These settling funds failed to provide added value because they were not rolled out to productive sectors.

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Joko Widodo said that there were constraints on planning in the local government which caused program planning to be inconsistent with budget planning. “I remind you to design and plan the program before the current year. Don't let it become SiLPA, don't let it become SiLPA," Jokowi emphasized.

The President revealed this while giving directions at the National Coordination Meeting (Rakornas) of Regional Heads and the Indonesian Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) at the Sentul International Convention Center (SICC), Bogor Regency, West Java Province, Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

Joko Widodo again reminded the importance of spending the regional budget to buy domestically made products. Currently, spending on domestic products from the state and regional budgets is still 61 percent. He also hopes that spending on domestic products with the APBN and APBD can continue to increase.

"We want this year to increase more than that, (I will be grateful if) it can be 100 percent," he said.

Perpetual Fund

The President also taught regional heads that there is an opportunity to manage the budget into an endowment fund. The government has provided space for the regions to be able to build an endowment fund which has been regulated in Law Number 1 of 2022 concerning the Financial Relations of the Central Government and Regional Governments (HKPD).