'Govt not helpful in curbing nonbudgetary funds'<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) said on Wednesday that it had
\nencountered obstacles while trying to audit corruption-prone
\nnonbudgetary funds worth trillions of rupiah, currently being
\nretained by several ministries and state agencies.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of BPK Bambang Wahyudi told The Jakarta Post
\nthat the government had refused to cooperate with BPK.<\/p>\n
"Since 2000, we have asked them to report the existence of
\nseveral bank accounts suspected of storing such funds, but there
\nhas been no response," said Wahyudi on the sidelines of a plenary
\nsession between the House of Representatives and BPK.<\/p>\n
Wahyudi explained that BPK had managed to detect the existence
\nof the nonbudgetary funds via bank accounts reported by the
\ngovernment institutions to the agency during a routine audit.<\/p>\n
But he said that several institutions had refused to provide
\ndetailed reports of their accounts, such as the nominal value of
\nthe accounts and their purposes. In some cases, the institutions
\nhad even refused to report the existence of the accounts at all,
\nwhich had made BPK suspicious.<\/p>\n
"It seems like they are hiding something. Such practices
\noccurred in several institutions, with the possible goal being
\nto prevent the funds from being transferred into the state
\nbudget," said Wahyudi.<\/p>\n
Nonbudgetary, or off-balance-sheet funds, are basically nontax
\nrevenues collected by state institutions, but are not included in
\nthe state budget. In the past, these huge funds were a source of
\ncorruption and were allegedly used to finance the 32-year
\nauthoritarian rule of former president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
In a bid to curb corruption, as well as to implement good
\ngovernance and transparency in state institutions, the government
\ndecided to eliminate nonbudgetary funds and transfer them to a
\nstate revenue account subject to public audit.<\/p>\n
The government had set a deadline of July 2000 for the
\ninstitutions to transfer the funds, with the Directorate General
\nof State Budget at the Ministry of Finance responsible for
\noverseeing the process.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, chairman of BPK Satrio B. Judono, renewed calls
\nurging the government to take stern measures in eliminating the
\nnonbudgetary funds by upholding Law No. 20\/1997 on Nontax State
\nRevenue.<\/p>\n
"It is the government's responsibility to collect the off-
\nbalance funds as stipulated by the law, not us. They should look
\nat the law," said Judono.<\/p>\n
Article 14 of the law stipulates that the Ministry of Finance
\nbears the responsibility for the collection and management of all
\nnontax revenues.<\/p>\n
The article also states that the ministry should initiate an
\ninvestigation toward institutions suspected of retaining such
\nfunds by appointing certain government institutions to conduct
\nthe investigation.<\/p>\n
However, the government is likely to wash their hands of the
\nissue, as Director General of State Budget Ansari Ritonga said
\nthat it was the responsibility of BPK and other audit agencies to
\nconduct the investigation.<\/p>\n
"My directorate only deals with on-budget funds. It is the job
\nof BPK and other state auditors, not us. We only follow up their
\nreports," said Ansari.<\/p>\n
Ansari also denied accusations that the government had
\nbypassed the problem. He said that the directorate had tried to
\neliminate the funds by issuing several notices, urging all
\ngovernment institutions to transfer the funds to the state
\nbudget.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-not-helpful-in-curbing-nonbudgetary-funds-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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