24 Governors Meet Minister Of Finance, Discuss Reducing Transfer Funds To Regions

JAKARTA - A number of governors from various provinces who are members of the Association of Provincial Governments of All Indonesia (APPSI) expressed their objection to the Minister of Finance, Purbaya Yudhi Sadive, regarding the cutting of transfer funds to the regions (TKD) in the 2026 State Revenue and Expenditure Budget Draft (RAPBN).

For information, the TKD allocation in the 2026 RAPBN is planned at IDR 692,995 trillion, or a decrease of around 24.7 percent compared to the previous year which reached IDR 919.9 trillion. This means that there is a cut of around IDR 226.9 trillion.

As many as 24 governors and deputy governors were present at the Head Office of the Ministry of Finance, Jakarta, to voice their aspirations.

The regional heads who attended included Jambi, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Bangka Belitung Islands, Banten, Riau Islands, Central Java, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, West Sumatra, DI Yogyakarta, Mountains Papua, Bengkulu, Aceh, North Sumatra, Lampung, South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, Southwest Papua, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, East Java, Gorontalo, and South Sumatra.

The Chairperson of APPSI and Jambi Governor Al Haris explained that the meeting was a means for governors to express their concerns about the decline in TKD which could potentially affect the implementation of regional programs.

"Of course, many people feel the impact of the TKD (cutting), including areas that may find it difficult to pay for employee spending, very large. Moreover, there is a need to pay P3K and so on. Well, this has an extraordinary impact on the 2026 APBD," he said when met at the Central Ministry of Finance Building, Tuesday, October 7.

He admitted that the central government has various programs with a budget allocation of around Rp. 1,300 trillion which will be implemented in the regions next year.

However, according to him, the local government has not received a detailed explanation regarding the implementation of these programs.

"If the PAD area is small, which depends heavily on the fate of the TKDD, it will be difficult for them to develop their area," he explained.

The Governor of North Maluku, Sherly Tjoanda Laos, said that all governors have voiced their views directly to the Minister of Finance and assessed that the current allocation is very minimal for other development activities.

"The finance minister will find the best solution. So that economic growth in the regions continues to run and is stable," he said.

Furthermore, Sherly explained, specifically there has been no detailed explanation regarding the cuts in the transfer budget to the regions.

However, he conveyed that from the information provided, some of the funds previously allocated to the regions would be relocated first to ministries/agencies, and then distributed back to the regions.

Sherly added that next year's TKD budget may only be sufficient to cover routine spending, while funds for infrastructure development such as roads and bridges will be very limited.

"Everyone does not agree, because then there is a fairly large P3K burden and there is a promise for a fairly large road and bridge construction, with an average cut for each region of almost 20 percent 30 percent for the provincial level and at the district level there was even from Central Java which was almost 60 percent 70 percent, that's hard for infrastructure development," he said.

"Hopefully the Minister of Finance can communicate well to find good solutions so that in the future for infrastructure development, we can run well, the first aid salary continues, economic growth as expected continues," he added.

Sebelumnya, Menteri Keuangan Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa menyampaikan dirinya belum tahu pasti apa yang akan dibahas dalam pertemuan dengan Asosiasi Pemerintah Provinsi Seluruh Indonesia.

"Saya belum tahu (pembahasan apa saja dengan para pemerintah daerah). Mereka pengin ketemu, ya sudah saya temuin," ucap Purbaya kepada awak media.

Meski demikian, Purbaya menegaskan terdapat dua isu utama yang kemungkinan besar akan menjadi bahan diskusi, yaitu Transfer ke Daerah (TKD) dan Dana Bagi Hasil (DBH).

Selain itu, dia menduga sejumlah kepala daerah akan menyampaikan keberatan mereka terkait dua hal tersebut.

"Mau protes? Biar saja, kita lihat keuangan daerah seperti apa, keuangan pemerintah seperti apa, kita atur sesuai kondisi keuangan," tuturnya.

Previously, Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadive said that he did not know for sure what would be discussed in a meeting with the Association of Provincial Governments throughout Indonesia.

"I don't know yet (what discussions with local governments). They want to meet, so I have met them," said Purbaya to the media crew.

However, Purbaya emphasized that there are two main issues that will most likely be discussed, namely Transfer to Regions (TKD) and Revenue Sharing Funds (DBH).

In addition, he suspects that a number of regional heads will submit their objections regarding these two matters.

"Want to protest? Let it be, we'll see what regional finances are like, what kind of government finances are we managing according to financial conditions," he said.