Sri Mulyani Scolds Regions For Lazy Spending On Regional Budget: Even Though The State Budget Has 'Worked Hard'

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani appealed to Regional Governments to immediately use the Regional Budget that has been distributed by the central government to support the national economy.

In her explanation, the Minister of Finance said that the 2021 Regional Budget was recorded at IDR 984 trillion, up from 2020 which amounted to IDR 880 trillion.

However, the realization until March 2021 was only IDR 80.6 trillion, lower than last year's achievement in the same period of IDR 106 trillion.

"So in this case the Regional Budget income is higher, but the spending is lower. This is what needs to be a lesson so that local governments can participate as a driving force for economic recovery by using their Regional Budget instruments”, she said in the 2021 Central Development Coordination Meeting which was broadcast virtually, Thursday, April 29.

According to the Minister of Finance, the central government has taken strategic steps to boost the national economy through the state budget. This must be accompanied by the transmission of the same policy by the local government so that the recovery orchestra can go hand in hand.

"The Regional Budget is already working to accelerate the economy, and the regions must do the same", she added.

According to the Minister of Finance's investigation, the stagnation of expenditure realization at the beginning of this year was reflected in the increasing amount of regional savings in banking institutions.

He explained that until the end of the first quarter of 2021, local government deposits were known to be IDR 182.3 trillion. This figure is much larger than the same period in 2020 with IDR 177.5 trillion.

"This means that there are still Regional Budget funds stored in banks and have not been spent to help restore the economy", she said.

For information, in the 2021 Regional Budget, the government targets state revenue of IDR 1,743 trillion. This amount will be supported by tax revenues of IDR 1,229 trillion, customs and excise IDR 215 trillion. Then, Non-Tax State Revenues of IDR 298 trillion, as well as grants of IDR 900 billion.

Meanwhile, for expenditure during the year, a budget is allocated of IDR 2,750 trillion. This figure causes the Regional Budget structure to experience a deficit of around IDR 1,000 trillion which is fulfilled through several funds released by the government.