Asking Regions To Accept Transfer Fund Cuts, Tito: The Fact Is That There Are Manyboros, Finally They Get OTT

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian. (Between)

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian reminded regional heads to make the momentum of cutting transfer funds to regions (TKD) from the central government an opportunity to improve regional financial governance more efficiently and on target.

Moreover, according to Tito, currently the practice of waste of budget in the regions has led to legal problems and arrest operations (OTT) by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Look at the facts, there are many wastes. Many are also inefficient, and eventually become legal problems. Get hit by OTT, go to prison, etc. Effective, make it efficient first. Right on target, make it efficient," Tito said after the Coordination Meeting for the Development and Supervision of Regional Government Implementation at the Pullman Hotel, Jakarta, Wednesday, Thursday, October 9.

Tito emphasized that budget cuts are not new. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, the central and regional governments were able to operate with high efficiency even though the budget was cut by half.

"When the COVID-19 era was also possible, we reduced our budget, we could. At that time, the budget for handling COVID and the economy was above a thousand trillion, and there was a lot of fiscal reduction, but everything went ahead. So don't be pessimistic, don't be immediately resistant when you see the impact," he said.

Tito also asked local governments to try to make budget efficiency in their respective regions next year.

Efficiency that can be done by local governments, according to Tito, can be done at job meeting shopping posts, official trips, food and beverages, to asset maintenance and maintenance. However, local governments are not allowed to tamper with mandatory budgets such as education to health.

"Then the programs must also really, the budget for the program must really be used as goods. Don't use it as a bancakan, get legal problems later," said Tito.

In addition to efficiency, the former National Police Chief also encouraged local governments to be more creative in finding new sources of income that did not burden the small community. He gave an example of optimizing the tax on restaurants, hotels and parking, which had experienced many leaks.

"The Customer may not read, in the bill there is a tax, you know. The question is, is the tax submitted to the regional Dispenda? Not necessarily," said Tito.

Furthermore, Tito asked regional heads to take advantage of central government programs that according to him have economic effects in their regions, such as Free Nutrition Food (MBG), Red and White Cooperatives, Fishermen's Villages, as well as food and energy security programs.

"The positive way is, employment, there is a supply chain, making economic turnover because of the money circulating in the area. Here are just some tips for the region to face the physical year ahead," he said.

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.

Responding to this, as many as 18 governors were present at the Head Office of the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, October 7 to voice their aspirations.

They expressed objections 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).