Facing ASN Salary Payment Constraints, 18 Central Java Regencies/Cities Receive Additional Funds

The Head of the Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD) of Central Java Province, Dwianto Priyongroho, has revealed that 18 regency and city governments in Central Java have received additional General Allocation Funds (DAU) and Revenue Sharing Funds (DBH) from the central government totalling Rp268 billion. According to him, the disbursement of these funds is the realisation of aspirations from regional governments facing constraints in meeting employee salary payments.

“Indeed, Minister of Finance Decree (KMK) 198 dated 5 August 2026 was issued to finance salary and allowance needs across all regional governments. Specifically in Central Java, the allocation details are in each regional government’s system. We have communicated, and there is indeed Rp268 billion distributed across several regencies and cities,” Dwianto said in an interview at the Central Java Provincial Government Office in Semarang City on Wednesday (19/8/2026).

He added that of the total funds, Rp184 billion is DAU, while the remaining Rp83 billion is DBH. “Not all received it, but at least around 18 regencies and cities did, whether for salary payments or under-disbursement of Revenue Sharing Funds,” he said.

Dwi noted that 16 regencies and cities received under-disbursed DBH, namely Brebes, Kebumen, Pemalang, Banjarnegara, Sragen, Blora, Purbalingga, Pati, Tegal, Wonogiri, Pekalongan, Karanganyar, Wonosobo, Tegal, Temanggung, and Rembang. According to Dwi, the disbursement of additional DAU and DBH is indeed the realisation of aspirations conveyed by regional governments, including Central Java, to the central government.

“From the outset, the Provincial Government has written to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the position of employee expenditure in the 35 regencies, cities and the province,” he said.

He explained that the majority of employee expenditure in regencies and cities is for basic public services, especially education and health personnel. However, Dwi did not deny that employee expenditure budgets in most regency and city governments have exceeded 30 per cent. In fact, under Law Number 1 of 2022 on Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments (HKPD), employee expenditure should be a maximum of 30 per cent of the regional budget (APBD).

“So indeed, if it is 30 per cent, almost all regencies and cities are above 30 per cent. Because the need for basic services exceeds 30 per cent,” said Dwianto.

The fiscal condition of regency and city governments in Central Java is increasingly pressured by cuts to Regional Transfer Funds (TKD). Dwi noted that most regency and city governments in Central Java still rely heavily on TKD. TKD cuts to Central Java in 2026 reached more than Rp11 trillion. TKD for the Central Java Provincial Government was cut by Rp1.5 trillion, while the remainder was spread across 35 regencies and cities with an average reduction of 30 per cent.

Nevertheless, Dwianto said there have been no cases of regency or city governments in Central Java being unable or failing to pay their employees’ salaries. He expressed hope that with the additional DAU and DBH from the central government, regency and city governments in Central Java will be assisted in financing their employee expenditure needs.

“The hope is that there will be no more obstacles in terms of payment capacity across all regional governments for the salary and allowance needs of all state civil apparatus within the provincial and regency/city governments throughout Central Java,” said Dwianto.

Previously, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian stated that the central government had disbursed a budget of Rp18.9 trillion to assist the fiscal capacity of 546 regional governments. The funds were divided into DBH of Rp10.05 trillion and DAU of Rp8.8 trillion. Tito expressed hope that the disbursement would help regional governments, including in paying government employees with work agreements (PPPK).