Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Tito Karnavian has reprimanded a number of regional governments over the low realization of the regional budget (APBD).
“Accelerating APBD realization was one of President Joko Widodo’s directives in the plenary cabinet meeting,” he remarked in a statement released here on Thursday.
He emphasized that the realization of the budget is important for supporting national economic growth.
According to Karnavian, regional spending will encourage higher money circulation among the community since it can increase the purchasing power and consumption of households.
In addition, the spending can stimulate private parties whose incomes declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“More than Rp700 trillion of the budget has been transferred by the central government to the regional governments,” the minister noted.
In addition, the regional governments also have local revenue sources and other financial resources, in accordance with the law, he added.
Furthermore, there are several regions with low ABPD realization that must expedite spending, he pointed out.
“If there are any contracts which need to be paid at the end of the year, you can use the APBD to pay them according to the rules,” he suggested.
For accelerating budget realization, Karnavian also said that he will monitor and evaluate the realization of the budgets every week.
The Home Affairs Ministry will also deploy a team from the Inspectorate General and the Directorate General of Regional Finance to the regions to monitor the acceleration of budget realization.
According to data from the directorate general, as of November 19, 2021, only 8 provinces out of 34 provinces have recorded a budget realization of above 70 percent.
Meanwhile, budget realization in many provinces such as Papua, West Sulawesi, West Papua, North Sulawesi, North Kalimantan, Aceh, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, and Jambi is below 70 percent.
The data also shows that some districts such as Tolikara, North Penajam Paser, Yalimo, Mamberamo Raya, Mahakam Ulu, Pegunungan Arfak, Lahat, Enrekang, Raja Ampat, and Kupang have APBD realization of below 50 percent.
In addition, there are cities with relatively low spending realization, including Cimahi, Tanjung Balai, Sorong, Sibolga, Bau-Bau, Batu, Kendari, Singkawang, Subulussalam, and Palembang, as per the directorate general.
Source: Antara News