Finance Minister Sri Mulyani criticized some ministries for not having done enough in utilizing the stimulus fund for infrastructure projects.
With less than two months left, the government has absorbed only 36.2 percent or Rp 4.4 trillion (US$450 million) of the Rp 12.2 trillion infrastructure stimulus fund, Mulyani told a hearing with the House of Representatives’ Commission XI on finance Tuesday.
"Some ministries are performing well, others need to accelerate their efforts to absorb the stimulus funds," she said.
Mulyani said the Health Ministry had set a good example, for spending Rp 115 billion or 76.7 percent of Rp 150 billion of the stimulus fund allocated to it, the highest absorption rate among the10 ministries that received the funds.
The Trade Ministry is a bad example, having absorbed only 19.3 percent or Rp 64.5 billion of a total of Rp 335 billion extended to it.
The Public Works Ministry and the Transportation Ministry, the two largest recipients of the fund, have respectively absorbed 44 percent and 36.4 percent, worth Rp 2.9 trillion out of Rp 6.6 trillion and Rp 800.9 billion out of Rp 2.2 trillion.
The stimulus fund was initially designed to help cushion the negative impacts of the economic downturn.
The fund is part of the total Rp 73.3 trillion stimulus package stipulated under the 2009 state budget. Of the total fund, as much as Rp 32.9 trillion (44.9 percent) has been disbursed.
Mulyani refused to speculate on what had caused the low absorption rate of the stimulus fund. "The Public Works Ministry is quite good. Other ministries may have their own problems that need to be solved as soon as possible," she said. (bbs)
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|