Sri Mulyani Delays The Increase Of Civil Servant Performance Allowances

JAKARTA - The corona virus pandemic or COVID-19, which is increasingly widespread in Indonesia, has a negative impact on national economic growth. As a result of this pandemic, the 2020 State Budget has a deficit of up to 5.07 percent. The government continues to make budget savings and refuses to handle this outbreak.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati ensured that there would be no increase in performance allowances or tukin for all civil servants (PNS). This is because state spending has been cut and reallocated for handling COVID-19.

"Regarding personnel spending, there is a delay for the increase," he said, in a virtual hearing (RDP) with Commission XI of the DPR, Thursday, April 30.

Sri Mulyani said that this year's personnel spending has decreased by Rp3.4 trillion. This is because there are savings from the absence of an increase in tukin for civil servants.

The allocation for personnel expenditure in the 2020 State Budget is IDR 155 trillion. According to him, with various reallocations for handling COVID-19, the outlook for employee spending has decreased to IDR151.6 trillion.

Not only that, Sri Mulyani said, the efficiency that was then carried out by the ministries and institutions was saving on spending, such as official travel, meeting costs, honoraria, and non-operational expenditures.

"That lowers costs quite a lot. Try to imagine, ladies and gentlemen (members of Commission XI), every meeting at Commission XI, the Ministry, every meeting there must be food. Now there is no more. So it is an efficiency that we hope can be maintained until next year, "he said.

In addition, Sri Mulyani revealed, activities or projects that had been contracted were renegotiated with third parties. The goal is that project work can be postponed due to being affected by COVID-19.

However, Sri continued, there are several types of spending that are exempted from budget cuts. This expenditure includes spending on handling the impact of COVID-19, spending on tackling stunting, maternal and infant mortality, and eradicating other infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, and dengue.

"So as for malaria which is currently rife, its efficiency and effectiveness are maintained," he explained.

Not only that, Sri Mulyani said, budget cuts are also exempted for spending on social assistance which is part of the stimulus for social safety networks. Then, for the non-RM ceiling (PNBP & BLU, PHLN, PHDN, SBSN) because they cannot be reallocated to other programs.