House passes law on revision of current budget<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives passed a bill into
\nlaw yesterday on the upward revision of the 1994\/1995 state
\nbudget, with two of its four factions calling on the government
\nto be more explicit in its project financing.<\/p>\n
The two factions, the Moslem-controlled United Development
\nParty (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), are
\nunhappy with the current procedures, which they believe do not
\nacknowledge the House's budgetary right as granted by the
\nConstitution of 1945.<\/p>\n
Ni Gusti Ayu Eka Sukmadewi, a spokesman for the PDI faction,
\nsaid during a House session that the government has not
\nadequately explained expenditures for its programs and
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
\"Whether the additional expenditures are made for programs of
\ntop priority or not, the House is never informed. This is
\nevidence that the government does not respect the House's
\nbudgetary right,\" Gusti Ayu said.<\/p>\n
A. Nana Djuhana Sutarya of the PPP faction said the current
\nprocedures, which do not involve the House's ten commissions when
\ndeliberating a bill, are too simplistic and designed as
\nformalities only.<\/p>\n
He called on the other House factions and the government to
\njointly change the current procedures. \"If the problems arise
\nfrom the House's own rules, let's change them -- they haven't
\nbeen changed for 13 years.\"<\/p>\n
The other two factions -- the Armed Forces (ABRI) and the
\nruling Golongan Karya (Golkar) -- did not specifically mention
\nthe procedures in their presentations yesterday.<\/p>\n
Approval<\/p>\n
All of the four House factions, however, unanimously approved
\nthe changes made by the government to the 1994-95 budget, which
\nwill end this month.<\/p>\n
The changes cover the government's routine and development
\nexpenditures as well as its total revenues projected for 1994-95
\nbudget.<\/p>\n
The total state revenues are projected to surpass the original
\ntarget by 3.7 percent to reach Rp 72.35 trillion.<\/p>\n
Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said the unexpectedly
\nhigher receipts from oil and gas exports as well as various
\ndomestic taxes, levies and foreign aid have amounted to higher
\nstate revenues.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's crude oil exports for this fiscal year recorded an
\naverage price of $16.53 per barrel, well above the budget
\nestimate of $16.<\/p>\n
The volume of crude oil exports is also expected to surpass
\nthe target of 1.53 million barrels to reach 1.6 million barrels.<\/p>\n
Revenues from taxes and levies are projected to exceed the
\noriginal estimate of Rp 61.36 trillion by 2.7 percent, while
\nthose from foreign aid are likely to surpass the budget target by
\n9.7 percent to Rp 10.98 trillion.<\/p>\n
On the expenditure side, the government's routine spending is
\nexpected to surpass the target by two percent to reach Rp 43.17
\ntrillion (US$19.6 billion).<\/p>\n
Minister Mar'ie explained that the higher-than-projected
\nroutine expenditures were mainly a result of higher personnel
\nspending.<\/p>\n
The government's development spending, which primarily covers
\nforeign debt servicing and installments, is also projected to
\nexceed the target by 2.5 percent to Rp 18.42 trillion.<\/p>\n
Due to the changes, the 1994-95 budget, which previously
\nbalanced at Rp 69.74 trillion, expects to savor a surplus of Rp
\n10.4 billion. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-passes-law-on-revision-of-current-budget-1447893297",
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