Bali Officials Study Regional Bond Scheme from Jakarta's Pramono Anung

Bali Governor Wayan Koster and Badung Regent I Wayan Adi Arnawa met with Governor Pramono Anung at Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday (4/8/2026). The meeting discussed potential cooperation in development financing, infrastructure, culture, and tourism through a regional bond scheme. The meeting was held in line with the Badung Regency Government’s plan to issue regional bonds. According to the Directorate General of Fiscal Balance of the Ministry of Finance, regional bonds are a medium- and/or long-term source of regional loans sourced from the public. “We are opening ourselves up to regional bonds. Because I see that with the Debt Service Coverage Ratio we have, it seems to sufficiently meet the requirements,” said Adi Arnawa. The issuance of regional bonds is considered necessary by the Badung Regency to maintain the sustainability of the tourism sector. Adi Arnawa is optimistic that infrastructure development can be accelerated maximally with the completion of administrative requirements and regulatory support from the central government. “Especially regarding the administrative process for implementing regional bonds, and hopefully it will be supported by the central government in terms of regulation. We will certainly accelerate infrastructure development in Badung,” said Adi Arnawa. Meanwhile, Pramono stressed that regional governments need to implement creative financing to increase their Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budgets. Regions can no longer rely on conventional methods to solve various development problems. “There must be what is called out-of-the-box thinking to develop the main issues in the region. For example, Badung’s APBD is one of the highest in the republic at Rp 13 trillion, and we discussed this because Badung can certainly, like Jakarta, issue regional bonds,” explained Pramono. On the other hand, Koster revealed that this cross-regional government audience was a follow-up to the directive from the Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian, for the Bali Provincial Government and Badung Regency Government to conduct a study visit to the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government. In addition to the regional bond scheme, the discussion also covered optimising space utilisation and innovations in non-APBD financing sources.