BPK finds Rp 27.22t in unaccounted funds
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has found up to Rp 27.2 trillion in funds (some US$3.02 billion) in 16 bank accounts which fall under the supervision of the minister of finance in the 2003 state budget that the government has not accounted for.
The finding is among several accounting discrepancies that the BPK had found, and reported to both the House of Representatives and the government in its budget audit report on Tuesday.
It also proves that the government has not taken appropriate actions to improve its state accounting system, as the BPK has continuously found similar discrepancies over the last four years.
"The government has still not acted upon BPK's findings, as similar accounting inconsistencies are still appearing," BPK head Anwar Nasution said in a letter he sent to the President along with the audit result.
In its audit of the 2003 budget, the BPK found that as of Dec. 31, 2004, the 13 accounts under the finance minister had been used to stash state funds worth Rp 21.8 trillion from the repayment of loans that the government had disbursed to state- owned enterprises and regional administrations.
The BPK also found three accounts that were used to hold state revenue amounting to Rp 5.42 trillion from the oil, gas, mining and fisheries sector.
In addition, the BPK also found a total of Rp 678 billion that several ministries had been late in handing over to the finance minister, and Rp 14.3 billion, some of which had not been handed over altogether.
In the light of these findings, Anwar said the agency would wait for further responses from both the House of Representatives and the government.
"If the House says we have to audit the budget again, then we will do so," he told reporters on Thursday, after a consultative meeting with the House of Representatives' financial affairs commission on its audit.
"As for the response from the government, we will be expecting a new final accounting of the budget for us to verify if another audit is indeed required."
Meanwhile, House member Dradjad H. Wibowo said the discovery of the unaccounted funds was particularly ironic, as they were found in the finance ministry, which is supposed to set an example for other ministries.
"Other ministries are not even allowed to have off-budget accounts," he said.
"But here, the finance ministry itself is prone to irregularities."
Dradjad further explained the finding would surely raise questions on the accountability of such funds, including the interest.
In a written answer to the House in a Jan. 18 hearing, Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar acknowledged the existence of the accounts, and explained that they were needed as temporary accounts to hold various funds, before the ministry can properly set up a single and integrated account for all the funds.