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Insight: Fiscal reform, transparency and inclusive development
The public can monitor how their tax money is spent. In the long run, corruption will gradually be eradicated and society will further prosper.
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Another important aspect of open government is that it enables the public to oversee the performance of the government. (Shutterstock/File)
W
ith the 2018 World Government Summit in Dubai now underway, I was humbly honored with the Best Minister in the World award — a coveted title given to one minister every year by the organizers of the summit. Apparently, every year they use the independent firm Ernst & Young to do a global search for potential recipients of the prestigious award.
The award was a testament to the collective work of many, including the 78,000 passionate civil servants at the Finance Ministry. The government has worked hard to ensure the fiscal prudence of our budget, sound management of our economy and inclusive growth of our development. This award is dedicated to Indonesia and the 257 million Indonesians aspiring to make our nation thrive: more competitive economically, prosperous socially and responsible geopolitically.
Indonesia is currently the 15th largest economy in the world and we aim to be the fifth largest by 2030. Much of our hard work in the past few years is starting to bear fruit. Indonesia is among the top 10 reformers in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report. Our ranking is better than most BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The country’s sovereign credit rating has improved significantly. Our economic fundamentals are robust. And the public’s confidence in the government is solid.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo reiterated that the government needs to always serve the people and the nation through clean, effective, democratic and reliable governance. This signals a strong political will from the top leadership of this republic to promote good governance.
The Finance Ministry is also doing its part to support this goal. Concrete steps have been taken to establish a more open, participatory and innovative budgeting process through the involvement of various stakeholders. These open government practices will help accelerate our efforts to achieve our national targets and priorities, while at the same time promoting inclusive growth.
The aim is for civil society to play a more active role in determining the priorities for Indonesia. This increased collaboration can be a solution in strengthening the formulation and implementation of public policies. Furthermore, through the open government process, it will generate many innovations in public policy that are more suited to the needs of the people.
Indonesia has also been committed to the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency Initiative since 2016. Based on the open budget survey, Indonesia ranks in the top three after South Korea and the Philippines. Some key targets, such as information disclosure and access to budget data, have also been included in the National Action Plan.
