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Govt flagged for unusual aid spending ahead of election
“Hefty social aid in the middle of an election, far bigger than the amount during COVID-19, is a peculiarity or irregularity that arouses suspicion,” UI Faculty of Economics dean Teguh Dartanto told the Post on Tuesday.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right) talks with residents of Pekalongan, Central Java, during his working visit to the city on Dec. 13, 2023, to check on a nearby State Logistics Agency (Bulog) warehouse. During the visit, the President symbolically disbursed 10,000 kilograms of rice to 1,000 families. (Antara/Harviyan Perdana Putra)
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he government has recently acknowledged extending an ad hoc program that allows it to withhold 5 percent of ministry and agency budgets as a pool for emergent, undisclosed expenses, a policy that some experts say may be funding increased aid spending ahead of the 2024 general election.
The policy, known as “automatic adjustment”, blocks out some Rp 50 trillion (US$3.17 billion) from this year’s state budget, according to a Finance Ministry circular letter obtained by The Jakarta Post dated Dec. 29, 2023.
Ministry spokesperson Deni Surjantoro told the Post on Friday that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had personally ordered the continuation of the program to serve as a buffer against the economic impacts of heightened geopolitical risk.
He added that the policy had been used in the 2022 and 2023 state budgets. Two years ago, it allowed the government to spend more on fuel subsidies amid high international oil prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But experts say there is little justification for continuing the program this year, as the Indonesian economy has performed relatively well over the past few years and global uncertainty has lessened, as demonstrated by declining commodity prices and expectations of rate cuts from central banks.
At the same time, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been disbursing social aid in person in a number of provinces and maintains that he is allowed to campaign for the candidate of his choice, a move that has drawn public scrutiny.
Deni of the Finance Ministry claimed the automatic adjustment funds were not for social aid, but he did not say what they were intended for.
