DPR to conclude budget debates by Saturday

DPR to conclude budget debates by Saturday

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Benny
Pasaribu said on Thursday that the crucial debate of the 2002
draft budget would be completed on Saturday, so that provincial
and regency administrations could draw up their budgets on time.

According to Benny, leaders of all the factions in the House
were committed to passing the budget bill into law on Oct. 23,
just before the House begins their recess period.

"So, we cannot afford to have the completion of the debates
later than Saturday," Benny said.

As of Thursday, the Budget Committee concluded discussions on
all the items relating to state revenues.

The country's domestic revenue for next year is projected to
reach Rp 297.9 trillion (US$30 billion), including Rp 184.7
trillion from taxes, an increase over previous projections.

The rise in the tax revenue target is seen as a consequence of
the recently approved tax ratio increase to 13.03 percent from
the initial tax ratio target of 12.08 percent.

On Friday, the debate will revolve around state expenditures,
which the government has projected to be some Rp 343.1 trillion.

There has been widespread concern that the House would delay
the deliberation of the 2002 draft budget until late November if
they could not wrap up the debates before the recess period.

If that happens, all provincial and regency administrations
would likely face difficulties in drawing up their budgets in a
timely fashion as well.

Some provincial administration officials and legislators told
The Jakarta Post on Thursday that they could not afford any
delay.

"If that happens, this will surely disrupt development
projects and civil servant salaries," said Sakhyan Asmara,
spokesman for the North Sumatra provincial administration.

Hasrul Azwar, speaker of the North Sumatra provincial
legislative council, added that deliberation of regional budgets
depends on the state budget which includes the general allocation
fund to be distributed to various departments throughout each
province.

He predicted that the province's 2002 budget would be
increased to Rp 1 trillion (US$100 million) from Rp 804.3 billion
last year. The amount will include an estimated Rp 350 billion
from a general allocation fund and Rp 400 billion in local taxes.

Abdul Kadir Karding, chairman of the National Awakening Party
faction with the Central Java legislative council, warned that a
delay in the national budget would not only disrupt various
development projects in the provinces but also cause unrest among
hundreds of thousands of civil servants.

"So, we urge the House not to delay endorsement of the state
budget," he added.

Deputy speaker of the Yogyakarta legislature council Totok
Daryanto agreed, saying that the delay would affect the approval
and disbursement of the provincial budget, "but will not directly
affect the provincial administration's daily activities."

"The provincial administration can still go on with its
routines, especially its service functions, as the routine budget
can just follow the previous rules," Totok told the Post.

East Java Governor Imam Utomo also called on the House to pass
the budget bill into law by the end of this month.

Meanwhile, West Java provincial legislator Rasfani Akhyiar
said that a delay in the approval of the budget would not affect
the province.

"Our provincial budget does not depend on the state budget. We
have a lot of sources for regionally-generated incomes, which are
expected to reach Rp 2 trillion that is equal to its budget," he
said.