Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Protested by Regional Government for Announcing Funds Settling in Banks: By the end of the year the value could be IDR 100 trillion

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, in recent months has often announced the number of regional government funds that have settled in banks because they have not been used for spending.

According to the Minister of Finance, the publication effort is part of transparency in the management of state finances as well as an alarm to local governments to immediately spend according to their respective Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD).

However, he admitted that he had received protests from the local government because the pending funds were there. After all, he was waiting for payments for several projects or programs that had not been completed.

"The most important thing is there is no corruption. Usually, I see contractor payments at the end of the year. So if I convey funds at a high bank some don't like it, and they say they haven't paid (the contractor) but the money will definitely be spent later", he said at the handover ceremony for the Phase II state property grant (BMN) Minister For Public Works and Human Settlements (PUPR), Wednesday, December 7.

Furthermore, the Minister of Finance said that the pattern that has been revealed so far is that all regional government budgets cannot be absorbed 100 percent. In fact, he continued, the value of the remaining budget could reach hundreds of trillions.

"But indeed at the end of the year there are still those that are still precipitating, that amounts to around IDR 100 trillion from around IDR 800 trillion (from transfer funds to the regions)", he said.

For information, the press conference on the realization of the 2022 State Budget revealed that as of last October, regional government funds in banking were still IDR 278.7 trillion. This figure increased by IDR 54.8 trillion or around 24 percent compared to September which amounted to IDR 223.8 trillion.

Meanwhile, most of the funds deposited by regional governments for the provincial level are in DKI Jakarta with more than IDR 15 trillion. While regional government funds according to the highest level II regions are in the East Java region with an amount exceeding IDR 30 trillion.