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Govt expands Bappenas' function into budget allocation
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President Joko Widodo, accompanied by National Development Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil (right) and Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono (center), delivers a press statement on a budget contract signing by the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry on Wednesday, in Jakarta. (the jakarta post/Wienda Parwitasari)
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span style="line-height:1.6em">The government has agreed to expand the function of the National Development Agency (Bappenas), from merely planning development projects to devising budgets to allow better coordination of state expenditure allocation.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo urged all ministries and institutions to increase their quality of planning and budgeting into a more detailed and integrated process. It has to integrate the development among sectors, among regions and between central and local government, according to Jokowi.
"There will be no more of the so-called sectoral ego. Focus on programs that benefit people and the extent it could encourage a multiplier effect," he said in a limited cabinet meeting at the State Palace on Wednesday.
Therefore, Jokowi will issue a presidential decree (Inpres) that essentially expands Bappenas' function to budget allocation.
According to Bappenas head Sofyan Jalil, the decree on the synchronization of planning and budgeting consist of revising two presidential regulations (PP), namely the 2006 regulation on national planning systems and the 2010 regulation on state finance.
"We expect development to be more effective and efficient," he said, adding that the decree would be released this month for its implementation in the 2017 state budget's planning.
Previously, Sofyan continued, Bappenas had no authority over budgeting. “Now, we can control a wide range of proposals and we can decide which ones are of most priority," he said.
Aside from planning, budgeting and implementation, Bappenas would also evaluate the programs in terms of performance. "So there is synchronization to make budgeting well-targeted," he added. (ags)
