Budget debate delayed due to Golkar anniversary<\/p>\n
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives budget committee surprisingly
\ndecided to delay until Monday the completion of the crucial 2002
\nbudget debate out of respect for the Golkar Party anniversary.<\/p>\n
The House initially set a Saturday deadline to pave the way
\nfor the approval of the budget on Oct. 23.<\/p>\n
The delay was confirmed during a debate session late on Friday
\nafter Golkar legislators insisted that they could not participate
\non Saturday because they must attend an anniversary celebration
\ninstead.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Committee Chairman Benny Pasaribu ensured the
\npublic that the House would still be able to pass the budget bill
\ninto law by Oct. 24, shortly before legislators begin a month-
\nlong recess period.<\/p>\n
He reminded fellow legislators of the importance of a timely
\ncompletion of the budget deliberations.<\/p>\n
\"If we can't complete this (on time), it could create new
\nuncertainty that would be damaging to the economic recovery
\nprocess .... The regions are also all waiting for this ...,\"
\nBenny Pasaribu told fellow legislators during the Friday debate
\nattended by Finance Minister Boediono.<\/p>\n
A delay in the approval of the budget would have serious
\nconsequences, including difficulties for all provincial and
\nregency administrations in drawing up their respective 2002
\nbudgets in a timely fashion.<\/p>\n
Some provincial administration officials and legislators told
\nThe Jakarta Post earlier that they could not afford any delay.<\/p>\n
Angry regions could trigger a new round of social and
\npolitical instability in the country.<\/p>\n
The legislators debated the various components of state
\nexpenditure during Friday's session.<\/p>\n
By 11 p.m., only two components had been approved: personnel
\nexpenditure, set at Rp 40.75 trillion (US$4.04 billion), and
\nmaterial (goods and services) expenditure, at Rp 11.61 trillion.<\/p>\n
\"This means that there will be no increase in the salary of
\ngovernment employees,\" Boediono said.<\/p>\n
Domestic revenue for next year is set at Rp 301.87 trillion.<\/p>\n
The 2002 budget deficit is projected at 2.5 percent of gross
\ndomestic product.<\/p>\n
Legislators said that the most difficult item to be decided
\nwould be the fuel subsidy.<\/p>",
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