Day: August 16, 2021

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) proposed a budget of Rp770.4 trillion for transfers to regions and village funds for 2022 in his state budget speech on Monday.

“For 2022, the budget of transfers to the regions and village funds is planned at Rp770.4 trillion,” President Joko Widodo said in his speech, delivered at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta.

The budget will focus on improving the quality of regional expenditure to speed up welfare improvement and equality achievement and continuing the implementation of policies on the use of the General Transfer Fund to improve the quality of public infrastructure in the regions, recover the economy in the regions, develop human resources in the education sector, and increase spending priorities in the health sector, he informed.

Furthermore, the government will also seek more efficient use of the Special Transfer Fund through disbursement of the contract-based Special Allocation Fund for Infrastructure and Operational Special Allocation Fund to improve output and outcome achievements and to support service quality improvement, he said.

It will also continue to strengthen budget planning synergy through greater budget harmonization among ministries/institutions and the Transfer to the Regions and Village Funds, he added.

Furthermore, it will prioritize the use of village funds to recover villages’ economy through social protection programs and COVID-19 handling measures as well as to support priority sectors, he said.

“The government will also continue to strengthen quality control on the Transfer to the Regions and Village Funds to improve and equalize access to public services throughout Indonesia as well as to ensure national priority programs implemented by the regional governments run in an efficient, effective, transparent, and just manner,” the President informed.

A better targeting of policies for the management of the Special Autonomy Fund for Papua and West Papua provinces has also been undertaken, he added.

He said that the issuance of Law Number 2 of 2021 has laid the groundwork for the better management of the Special Autonomy Fund.

The extension of the Special Autonomy Funds and the 2.25-percent increase in the National General Allocation Fund ceiling will be combined with the improvement and better targeting of policies on allocation, disbursement, and management schemes of Special Autonomy Fund, he added.

“These efforts are expected to bring significant impacts to the improvement of the welfare of the Papuan people,” the President remarked.

 

Source: Antara News

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has praised members of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), House of Representatives (DPR), and Regional Representative Council (DPD) for contributing to efforts to support national development and COVID-19 handling.

“I appreciate MPR with its four-pillar program, which has consistently strengthened the state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and Diversity in Unity,” he noted during his state-of-the-nation address at the annual session of the MPR and the joint session of the DPR and DPD at the Parliamentary Complex, here on Monday.

The head of state said MPR’s agenda to study the legal substance and model of state guideline principles to lay a basis for inter-leadership sustainable development is also worthy of praise.

He stressed that the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic requires extraordinary efforts. The government and the DPR have worked hard and built synergies to lay a legal foundation for the handling of COVID-19.

In addition, the government and DPR have ratified the Job Creation Law, Indonesia’s first omnibus law, which serves as the main pillar for structural reform in the country, Jokowi said.

The DPR has continued to accommodate public aspirations and control the realization of the government’s programs through several innovations, he noted

In the meantime, the DPD has also taken an active part in the deliberations of bills, including those related to budgetary policy, and in supervising public services and the implementation of the village law, he added.

Through this role, it has contributed to the accurate handling of the pandemic and, at the same time, improved the institution of regional government for the future, the President said.

Efforts to save the people are the supreme law in the country, he remarked.

He then lauded the State Audit Board (BPK) for its role in auditing the state finance amid the need for swift government action to rescue the people from the pandemic.

“The pandemic is not a normal situation, so the audit cannot use normal standards. The important thing is rescuing people. Rescuing people is the supreme law in a state. BPK’s innovations to create accountability for all in our country are worthy of praise,” Jokowi said.

 

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Government has allocated a social protection budget of Rp427.5 trillion in the 2022 draft State Budget (APBN) to help the poor and the vulnerable meet their basic needs.

“In the long term, (the budget) is expected to be able to cut the chain of poverty,” President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said in his speech on the State Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2022 and Financial Notes at the Plenary Meeting of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR-RI) Session Year 2021-2022 at the Parliament Complex here on Monday.

President Jokowi said that the government will continue to improve the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS) and synergize it with other related data to support the reform of the social protection program.

The harmonization of the data is meant to support gradual and measurable social protection reforms, support the Job Loss Guarantee Program in accordance with the Job Creation Law, and improve the quality of social protection implementation as well as the development of adaptive social protection schemes, he elaborated.

According to the website of the Directorate General of Treasury of the Finance Ministry, the social protection program is part of the government’s efforts to provide protection to the poor and vulnerable so that they are able to meet their basic needs, such as food, education, health and other essentials. The program is expected to protect the community from the risk of social setbacks, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it stated.

Some forms of social protection offered by the government include the provision of cash assistance to the poor and vulnerable across Indonesia through the Family Hope Program (PKH), Non-Cash Food Assistance (BPNT) or Basic Food Program, and Social Cash Assistance (BTS).

By 2022, the government is targeting to lower the open unemployment rate to 5.5-6.3 percent and the poverty rate to around 8.5-9.0 percent, with reducing extreme poverty levels serving as its primary focus, Widodo said.

Furthermore, the level of inequality in the Gini ratio is targeted to be around 0.376-0.378 and the human development index at around 73.41-73.46, he added.

 

Source: Antara News

Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani wore a traditional Payas Agung Bali outfit at the annual session of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Monday.

The annual session was held along with the joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

The traditional Balinese dress, which is favored by the Balinese royalty, comprises the Balinese songket and Gringsing, a type of woven fabric.

Maharani wore the Bali Payang Agung Gelungan as a headdress with sandat flowers on the crown.

The House Speaker attended the MPR annual session and the DPR-DPD joint session at the Nusantara Building in the Parliament Complex in Jakarta.

At the annual state event, Maharani and leaders of other state institutions listened to the government’s performance report, which President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) presented in his state speech.

While delivering his speech, which also covered the 2022 State Budget Bill, President Jokowi wore traditional clothes from the Baduy tribe.

The meeting, which was held in both offline and online formats, was attended by 311 of the total 363 legislative members.

 

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) has said it will focus on completing first-level discussions on seven bills during the First Sitting Period of the 2021-2022 Sitting Year.

The House Speaker, Puan Maharani, said that the House is committed to assisting the state administration, even amid the pandemic.

She delivered the statement at the House’s Plenary Session on the Opening of the First Sitting Period of the 2021-2022 Sitting Year at the legislative complex here on Monday.

The seven bills comprise the Personal Data Protection Bill, the Disaster Management Bill, the Fifth Amendment Bill of the Law Number 6/1983 on General Provisions and Tax Procedures, the Central and Regional Governments’ Financial Relations Bill, the Roads Bill, the Village-Owned Enterprises Bill, and the National Sports System Bill.

“In addition, the House, along with the government, will prepare for the discussion of other bills that have become a joint commitment in the 2021 Priority National Legislation Program,” she added.

Furthermore, the House will also focus on the handling of COVID-19 and its supervisory function, the House Speaker informed.

The DPR will also supervise the State Defense Strategy and Policy for 2020-2024 as well as the concept and design of the general election and the regional heads election in 2024, she said.

“Moreover, the House will also conduct the supervision of the foreigners’ residence permits and activities in Indonesia to curb the transmission of COVID-19,” Maharani said.

In addition, the House will monitor national food availability and price stability, the use of village funds, state finances administration, as well as drugs and medical equipment management, she added.

It will also monitor and assist in the distribution of social assistance as well as supervise the One Million Contract-based Government Employees Teacher Program in 2021 to deal with teacher shortages across Indonesia, Maharani informed.

“The House will also monitor the implementation of monetary and financial policies in the National Economic Recovery program,” she added.

 

Source: Antara News