Mar'ie vows to control state budget<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad pledged
\nbefore the House of Representatives here yesterday that the
\ngovernment will work harder to avoid any deficit from the
\nimplementation of its budget plans in the coming fiscal years.<\/p>\n
The minister said that besides improving coordination, his
\noffice has also imposed tighter control on the implementation of
\nthe state budget to prevent any deficit.<\/p>\n
"With such measures, we hope there will be a surplus, rather
\nthan a deficit in the next fiscal years," the minister told a
\nparliamentary session.<\/p>\n
The minister and the House's Budgetary Commission began their
\nfour-day session yesterday to discuss the realization of the
\n1993-1994 state budget.<\/p>\n
The government's revenues in the 1993-1994 state budget, which
\nwas initially set at Rp 62.32 trillion (US$27.1 billion at the
\ncurrent rate), exceeded the target by around seven percent
\ndespite lower-than-expected revenues from the oil and gas sector,
\none of the country's major sources of revenues.<\/p>\n
The over-spending for both routine activities and development
\nprojects, however, resulted in a deficit of Rp 1.85 trillion.<\/p>\n
According to the existing regulation, the government's
\nbalanced budget must pass before the House at least three times.
\nThe first approval is needed for the budget plan, which is
\nusually made before the start of the fiscal year. The second one
\nis for the unaudited realization, which is generally discussed
\nbefore the end of the budgetary year.<\/p>\n
The last one is needed for the audited realization of the
\nbudget, which must be proposed within two years after the budget
\nyear is over.<\/p>\n
The minister said that actual spending exceeded the initial
\ntarget by around 10 percent due to the higher-than-expected
\nincrease in the spending for development projects, which were
\nmostly financed by foreign loans.<\/p>\n
Aid disbursement<\/p>\n
"Delays in the disbursement of foreign funds forced the
\ngovernment to increase rupiah financing of the projects," he said
\nabout the reason why the overspending occurred in the
\ngovernment's development projects.<\/p>\n
The deficit in 1993-1994 was the second after that in 1992-
\n1993 when the state budget fell short by around Rp 551.2 billion,
\nalso due to over-spending.<\/p>\n
The deficits, both in the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 fiscal
\nyears, were financed by the government's standby funds, which
\nwere specially set up from the accumulation of budget surpluses
\nin the previous fiscal years.<\/p>\n
The compensation for the 1993-1994 deficit reduced the amount
\nof the standby funds to Rp 2.3 trillion from Rp 4.15 billion in
\n1992-1993, the minister said.<\/p>\n
During yesterday's session, most of the commission's members
\nquestioned the government's commitment to fully adopting the
\nbalanced budget system, given the deviation in both the 1992-93
\nand 1993-1994 fiscal years.<\/p>\n
They also urged the government to improve its discipline in
\nabiding by budget plans to prevent further deficits in the coming
\nfiscal years.<\/p>\n
Aberson Marle Sihaloho of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\n(PPP) said that the deviation from the budget plan reflected the
\ngovernment's refusal to abide by the House's decision.<\/p>\n
"It was, therefore, pointless for us to spend all that time
\nsetting up the budget plan, if the government had no commitment
\nto follow it," said Aberson, who is also the commission's vice
\nchairman.<\/p>\n
He also charged the government with ignoring the balanced-
\nbudget principles, according to which the amount of the spending
\nshould be in balance with the actual revenues. (hen)<\/p>",
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