Foreign ministry denies graft

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied recent reports of financial misuse uncovered in the Indonesian embassies in Singapore and Beijing, which allegedly caused Rp 14.5 billion (US$1.6 million) in state losses.

In a press statement released on Friday, the ministry claimed the loss of money was caused by a delay in submitting the state's non-tax revenues.

It said the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) had assessed the financial reports of both embassies in April.

The ministry said it had told the BPK that the money had not been deposited in the state treasury at the time in order to make provision for currency fluctuations, which could spell trouble for the operation of the embassies.

"The BPK findings should not be an issue due to the fact that the Indonesian embassies in Singapore and Beijing submitted all state non-tax revenues on June 27 and June 17 respectively," the statement said.

Besides its own budget, the foreign ministry also drafts the budgets for 118 Indonesian diplomatic representatives abroad. --Antara