BLU performance must be linked with development goal: Finance Minister

The performance of the Public Service Agency (BLU) should be tied to the goal of national development, including making the people prosperous after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has said.

“Our development challenges are BLU’s performance challenges,” she noted during the 2022 BLU Coordinator Meeting here on Wednesday.

Last year, BLU managed to log a positive performance. This can be observed from its revenue, which reached Rp126.02 trillion, or grew 80.85 percent (year on year), or was 214 percent higher than the Rp58.79-trillion target.

BLU’s rising revenue has managed to contribute 27.5 percent to the total non-tax state revenue (PNBP).

Despite this, BLU’s performance must continue to be improved since Indonesia still has many hurdles, including ones that are related to development such as human capital quality, Indrawati stressed.

The improvement of human resource quality can be achieved by strengthening the quality of education and health, which can be done by BLU in the education, health, and other sectors.

For example, Indonesia is still struggling with the stunting rate, which has reached 27 percent, thereby necessitating the BLU’s involvement in the health sector for handling this challenge.

Moreover, Indonesia is facing other increasingly difficult challenges besides the pandemic, such as the emergence of other communicable and non-communicable diseases that are leaving people vulnerable.

The health sector BLU can be an agency that focuses on serving and synergizing health reformation steps, which can improve the quality of human resources, especially during the pandemic-to-endemic transition period, the minister explained.

Meanwhile, in terms of education, there are many people, including children, who have received education through school. However, the quality of education still needs to be improved.

“I expect that the reformation done by the Education, Culture, Research, and Ministry, BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia), and Religious Affairs Ministry can be translated into our BLU’s performance,” she remarked.

This should be done so that the BLU can not just determine their expenses, but also provide opportunities for students to become productive and innovative, in addition to having a moral character.

Source: Antara News