$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)