Government Sentil Observer: Slow Absorption Of Health Budget This Year Should Not Be Repeated In 2022

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies Bhima Yudhistira expects an improvement in the absorption of the health sector budget in 2022.

He said this was considering the disbursement of spending in the health sector in 2021 still experiencing a number of obstacles.

"The latest government data is that the realization (budget) of the health PEN (National Economic Recovery) is only around 25 percent. Maybe now it's still around 30 percent of the allocated ceiling," he said, quoted from Antara, Monday, August 16.

Bhima explained that this absorption issue must be a concern, considering that the government has budgeted a fairly large budget for the health sector, especially to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

He hopes that this incident will not repeat itself in 2022 with a number of improvements such as improvements to the local government bureaucracy (Pemda), related to data in hospitals, improving the quality of human resources, and recording systems.

"Verification (also) is done manually," he said.

According to him, improving the data collection and verification system is important because the government has budgeted for health spending in the 2022 RAPBN of IDR 255.3 trillion.

"This pandemic is a moment of reform of the entire hospital administration system, regional government and central government," said Bhima.

Previously, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announced that the health budget in the 2022 APBN draft was Rp. 255.3 or 9.4 percent of the total state expenditure which reached Rp. 2,708.7 trillion.

"The budget will be directed at continuing the handling of the pandemic, reforming the health system, accelerating stunting reduction, as well as the sustainability of the JKN (National Health Insurance) program," said President Jokowi in a speech delivering the State Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2022 and Financial Notes at the DPR-RI Plenary Meeting in 2017. Session 2021 - 2022, at the MPR/DPR Building, Jakarta, Monday 16 August.