City budget for 1998/1999 revised

City budget for 1998/1999 revised

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration has upwardly revised its
budget for the 1998/1999 fiscal year by 23 percent to Rp 1.6
trillion (US$145.45 million) as the result of a significant rise
in revenue raised through hotel and entertainment taxes and land
status upgrading fees, a city official announced on Wednesday.

City Secretary Fauzi Bowo told the media that the changes had
been made to the city budget because forecasts of revenue raised
from the two sources were "previously calculated under a very
pessimistic set of conditions". It is the third time the city
administration's budget has been altered this fiscal year,
although the first two revisions were cuts.

However, Fauzi, who also heads the city tourism agency
responsible for supervising hotels and entertainment spots in the
capital, declined to disclose the increase in revenue raised
through the two sources.

"The details of the revised budget will be announced on
Monday," he said.

The budget for this fiscal year was initially set at Rp 3.2
trillion but was then cut, first to Rp 2.7 trillion and then to
Rp 1.3 trillion as the economic crisis worsened.

The budget has been prepared assuming a static economy and a
25 percent rate of inflation.

The cut in their budget has forced the city administration to
focus on routine expenditures and to exercise great care in the
use of what little funds it has at its disposal.

Data from the Jakarta office of the National Land Agency shows
that revenue raised from administration fees associated with the
process of upgrading land status amounted to Rp 21.9 billion in
the first four months of this fiscal year, which began on Apr. 1,
1998.

The running total is already 62.5 percent of the Rp 35 billion
target included in the city administration's previous budget.

"It is possible that by the end of the current fiscal year,
income from land status upgrading will have exceeded the initial
forecast," Amarullah Asbah, the head of City Council Commission C
for financial affairs, commented.

Fauzi said the extra money in the revised budget would be used
to finance public services, including the repair of elementary
school buildings, providing flood victims with logistical support
and undertaking repair work on the city administration's
buildings aging buildings.

But the head of the Golkar faction in the council, Fatommy
Asaari, called on the administration to give priority to
supporting a people's economy by providing capital support.

"They should not allocate the funds to restoration projects.

"The extra revenue should be used to provide needy residents
with capital, then the funds could be rolled on (when they are
repaid)," Fatommy said. (ind)