Jakarta and Bali Discuss Creative Funding Schemes to Expand Financing Sources

The Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta and the Provincial Government of Bali have discussed the development of creative funding schemes to expand sources of development financing amidst limited regional fiscal space. The discussion also covered the preparation of regional bond issuance as an alternative for development financing, the utilisation of the Floor Area Ratio (FAR), the Principle Approval Letter for Land/Site Clearance (SP3L), and various other financing instruments. “In any case, under current economic conditions, the challenge of increasing the Regional Budget (APBD) can no longer be met through conventional means. There must be breakthroughs or out-of-the-box approaches,” said DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung while receiving a visit from Bali Governor I Wayan Koster and Badung Regent I Wayan Adi Arnawa along with their delegations at Jakarta City Hall on Tuesday. Pramono stated that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is currently preparing the issuance of regional bonds as an instrument to support development acceleration without relying entirely on the APBD. The meeting was also part of strengthening cooperation between Jakarta and Bali, which was formalised in a Joint Agreement on Regional Potential Development and Public Service Improvement on 10 July 2023. The agreement covers the fields of culture, tourism and the creative economy, food security, human resource competency development, strengthening of regional-owned enterprises, and public transport development. Pramono expressed hope that the cooperation would soon be translated into technical programmes that provide tangible benefits to the communities in both regions, both through the development of development financing and the improvement of public service quality. Meanwhile, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said the results of the discussion would be immediately followed up by technical teams so that the preparation process proceeds more quickly while remaining compliant with regulations. “We will immediately follow up on this discussion at the technical team level so the process runs faster. We will adjust it to the applicable regulations, both Regional Regulations and Governor Regulations,” said Koster.