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Local officials trained to oversee Rp 766t in public funds
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Tough ladies -- Two women carry pasture grass for cattle in Parangbatu village, Tuban, East Java, on Oct.3. Residents in the village still depend on forests for their livelihoods. (Antara/Aguk Sudarmojo)
T
o ensure effective distribution of next year’s regional transfer funds and village funds in excess of Rp 766 trillion (US$58.9 billion), the Finance Ministry is planning capacity building courses for government officials in the regions.
Boediarso Teguh Widodo, the ministry’s director general for state spending, said in Jakarta Tuesday that local officials needed to improve their capability to manage the funds so that the money would not be left idle in banks.
“The capacity building will be given in the form of finance courses and other types of training,” he said on the sidelines of a meeting with the House of Representatives budgetary committee.
The ministry has proposed Rp 706.4 trillion in regional transfer funds and Rp 60 trillion in village development funds in the 2017 state budget, which is being finalized with lawmakers.
The regional transfer funds are intended to reduce disparities in funding sources and public services among local administrations, and to finance the implementation of special autonomy status for certain provinces, including Papua, Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Aceh.
The ministry also plans to impose a carrot and stick approach, imposing penalties for non-performing regions by postponing the disbursement of their special allocation funds and offering incentives to those that manage their budgets well.
This year, from the Rp 47 trillion funds allocated in the revised 2016 state budget, 80 percent of the village funds have been disbursed across Indonesia in the first semester. (win)
