House to have more say in future budgets

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)