Budget Allocations To Increase In Second Half: Minister

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro has expressed optimism that allocations from the central governments budget, which is focused mainly on support infrastructure development, will increase in the second half of this year.

"The absorption in the first semester is actually still slow, but we are optimistic that it will increase in the second semester," Bambang said here on Friday.

He noted that one of the causes of slow allocations in the first six months was because of the Budget Execution Document (DIPA), that was ready to begin allocations only after the completion of the drafting and ratification of the revised budget (APBN-P) in February 2015.

Further, he added that after the drafting and ratification of APBN-P, many ministries and institutions associated with the government development projects experienced a change in name and their program has not yet been accommodated in the old state budget (APBN).

"Some ministries, including the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing and the Ministry of Education, had a change in nomenclature, so it was understood that the budget allocations would begin in April and May," the minister noted.

Bambang remarked that the down-payment, which has paid for less than half of the overall construction project value, was also one of the causes of the slow absorption of the budget during the first semester. (WDY)

President Joko Widodo has ordered ministries and state institutions to expedite the allocation of budget funds.

Further, Chief of the Presidential Communications Team Teten Masduki said in a press statement released here on Thursday that the president issued orders during a cabinet meeting in Jakarta on Thursday evening.

"Ministers and heads of state institutions should prioritize budget allocations till June this year, when budget absorptions were recorded at only 33 percent," Masduki quoted the president as saying.

He added that Jokowi had asked for the acceleration of budget allocations, along with the creation of a short-term strategy for spending the budget.

"The budget for the central and regional governments' expenditures should be disbursed to generate economic activities in the country," the president emphasized. (WDY)