House to have more say in future budgets

JAKARTA (JP): The government and House of Representatives agreed on Monday that beginning in 2001 all projects and departmental spending financed by the state budget would be subject to House approval.

The two parties also agreed the next budget, which takes effect on April 1 and ends on Dec. 31, 2000, would only disclose sector-based spending.

Minister of Finance Bambang Sudibdyo told reporters after attending a session of the House of Representatives budget working committee his office would require all departments to present their routine and development projects in detail for the 2001 budget.

"With this new move, democracy will blossom and the House's budgetary rights, which were never recognized by past administrations, will be respected," Bambang said.

As a result of this new requirement, the House will be informed of nearly every detail of all projects financed by the state budget, including the kinds of projects, where they will be executed and how much money they will require.

This way, the minister said, the House would be automatically empowered because there would be no single project which could be implemented without its consent.

"There will be no more projects which can be executed with only the approval of a director general or a minister. Everything must be approved by the House," he said. "If there is a project which looks strange, the House can cut it out."

The House will also be able to monitor the implementation of projects and the routine expenditures of departments financed by the state budget.

"There will be a new mechanism of control," Bambang said. "This move will have a great impact on our efforts to root out corruption, collusion and nepotism."

There will also be a drastic change in the revenue side of the 2001 budget because of the government's wish to afford greater autonomy to the provinces.

Noor Fuad, chairman of the Financial and Monetary Analysis Bureau at the Ministry of Finance, said the government was currently drafting rulings to implement the autonomy law.

Such rulings will automatically affect the drafting of the 2001 budget, whose domestic revenue is expected to dwindle, Noor said.

Bambang noted that the government and the House would need a longer time to prepare the budget beginning in 2001. He said budgetary discussion should begin at least six months before the budget comes into affect.

As for the 2000 budget, Bambang said the government was not prepared to present the details of all projects or the routine expenditures of all departments due to time constraints.

"We will use the old system to draft the next budget, but we will cut down development or projects spending for 2000," he said.

In an effort to reduce corruption in the bureaucracy, Bambang said the government -- with the approval of the House -- would systematically increase the salaries of civil servants and members of the military and police.

Bambang said a planned increase in the salaries of civil servants was included in the next budget, but he refused to specify the amount of the increase.

He also said the government, with support from the House, would retain some subsidies in the next budget. But again, he did not specify which subsidies would be kept.

The House's budget committee also approved yesterday all assumptions presented by the government to draft the next budget.

In drafting the 2000 budget, the government is assuming the rupiah will move within the range of 6,500 and 7,500 against the US dollar, that crude oil prices will fluctuate between $16 and $19 per barrel, inflation will rise by between 4 percent and 6 percent and that gross domestic product will grow by between 2 percent and 3.5 percent. (rid)