Official levies to be coordinated : Mar'ie
Official levies to be coordinated : Mar'ie
JAKARTA (JP): The government is preparing measures to coordinate levies imposed by the central government and local administrations, so that they don't overlap with each other, Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad said here yesterday.
"It is essential to coordinate the regulations and the mechanism of the collection of levies," he told the Budgetary Commission of the House of Representatives (DPR) at a hearing.
The minister and the House members were on the second day of their four-day discussion on the government-proposed state budget for the 1996/1997 fiscal year, which will be implemented in April.
The minister said provincial administrations' regulations allowing the imposition of levies should also be upgraded to laws so that such levies will require approval from the House of Representatives before being introduced.
The government is now under pressure to scrap all kinds of levies burdening the country's high-cost economic activities to improve its competitive edge in foreign markets.
A number of ministries have committed to scrapping their respective levies.
However, many economists express doubt whether local administrations would also support the commitment, given the fact that most of provinces' revenues come from such levies.
At yesterday's hearing, the minister acknowledged that his task would not be easy. "It will take time," he told the hearing, which will proceed until tomorrow.
State firms
Mar'ie also said that the government would further consolidate state-owned companies in a bid to improve their efficiency.
State-owned companies with similar production lines, for example, would be merged, with one of them to be assigned to act as a holding firm, he said.
He said the integration of PT Semen Tonasa in South Sulawesi and PT Semen Padang in West Java into the publicly listed PT Semen Gresik would be taken as a model in the consolidation of state-owned companies.
A business liquidation would be the last resort in the government's restructuring of its companies, he said.
In a related development, Director General for Plantations A. Rante Tondok said Tuesday that state-owned plantation companies, now totaling 30, would be merged into 14 groups of companies, based on their operational sites.
He said that the names of the state-owned plantation companies, which are now taken from their operational codes, would also be changed.
"The proposal on the consolidation is waiting for President Soeharto's approval," he told newsmen at a breaking of the fast gathering at his office Tuesday evening.
About the financing of the general elections to be held next year, Mar'ie told the House members yesterday that the funds would be allocated in the state budget.
"The government will set aside Rp 214.6 billion for the election committees," he said, adding that the total funds would be allocated in three consecutive fiscal years.
Around Rp 76 billion of the total funds will be allocated in the 1995/1996 fiscal year, Rp 128.7 billion in 1996/1997 and another Rp 99.9 billion in 1997/1998, the minister said. (hen)