$1.1 billion in nonbudgetary funds goes into state coffers
$1.1 billion in nonbudgetary funds goes into state coffers
JAKARTA (JP): The director general of the state budget
reported on Friday government ministries and state agencies had
transferred about US$1.1 billion in nonbudgetary funds into a
special state revenue account.
Anshari Ritonga said the transferred funds included Rp 9.779
trillion (US$1.04 billion), $62 million in U.S. dollars, 641,000
Japanese yen, as well as euros and Singapore dollars.
Anshari said that out of the 58 ministries and state agencies,
24 had reported their nonbudgetary accounts, 21 declared they did
not maintain nonbudgetary accounts and the remaining 13
institutions had not yet reported to his office.
All government ministries and agencies, including the 21
institutions that say they do not have nonbudgetary funds, are
expected to explain in detail their claims.
He added that Rp 1.517 trillion in nonbudgetary funds had been
reported to his office but was not required to be transferred to
the state account.
"Based on our calculations, there is still about Rp 668
billion in nonbudgetary funds that must be reported but has not
yet been reported to us," Anshari was quoted by Antara as saying.
Minister of Finance Bambang Sudibyo has required all
nonbudgetary funds belonging to government ministries and state
agencies, including the military, to be transferred to a special
state revenue account by July 10 at the latest.
The government has appointed the Development and Finance
Comptroller (BPKP) to audit nonbudgetary funds at all ministries
and state agencies.
However, the government has not yet decided how it will
sanction institutions that falsify reports, or how to design
effective measures to allow BPKP to audit all ministries and
state institutions.
Nonbudgetary funds are basically nontax revenue collected by
ministries and state agencies but not included in the state
budget. These funds, according to Anshari, differ from off-
balance sheet funds because the latter refer to illegal funds.
Nonbudgetary funds, nevertheless, have been the source of
corruption in the past, and reportedly were used to finance the
32-year authoritarian rule of former president Soeharto.
In a bid to curb corruption as well as to implement good
governance and transparency in state institutions, the government
has decided to eliminate the nonbudgetaryt funds and transfer
them to a state revenue account subject to public audits.
According to Anshari, the bulk of the nonbudgetary funds so
far transferred to the state account came from reforestation
funds, which total Rp 7.5 trillion.
This figure is much higher than the Rp 4.1 trillion that was
reported earlier by the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations.
According to the Indonesian Forestry Society (MKI), there is
still about Rp 21 trillion in reforestation funds in a number of
accounts in both state and private banks.
House of Representatives Commission III for forestry,
plantations and agriculture has formed a special team to
investigate the existence of this Rp 21 trillion reported by MKI.
"We hope that MKI can cooperate with us to uncover the
whereabouts of these reforestation funds," the head of the team,
Eddy Sitanggang, said during a hearing with MKI executives on
Friday.
MKI chairman Benyamin Sopamena promised to help the team
locate the funds. He said a number of banks where some of the
accounts were located had been reluctant to talk about the funds,
much less disburse them.
"Maybe some of those funds have disappeared. But officials at
the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations must be held accountable
for that.
"Therefore, we are happy to hear that Commission III has
formed a special team to investigate the reforestation funds. We
are ready to help," he said. (rid)