Prabowo Criticises Local Governments for Inefficient Budget Utilisation

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has highlighted that the management of local government budgets is not yet optimal. He stated that funds have been transferred to various regions but are not being used to support development or public services.

“Sometimes it is strange; money held by local governments is not used. We have evidence. It is left in banks, among various other things. Or there is conflict between regents and the local parliament, or between governors and the local parliament. So, the money has been transferred by us, but it is not being used,” said Prabress Prabowo during the ‘President Answers’ programme, as reported by Bakom RI on Wednesday (16/9).

Prabowo mentioned that the central government needs to ensure that every part of the state budget is used effectively and provides direct benefits to the community. He stated that this will be one of the key considerations in the policy regarding Regional Transfer Funds (TKD).

Prabowo pointed out that there are instances where local government budgets are simply stored in banks or cannot be utilised due to issues at the regional level. He assessed that this situation requires urgent attention, as the purpose of transferring budgets to the regions is to accelerate development and improve public welfare.

While local governments have the authority to manage budgets according to regional needs and priorities, their usage must remain effective and accountable.

Furthermore, Prabowo also highlighted that the development of basic infrastructure at the village level is deemed disproportionate to the budget allocated to the regions.

“How long has decentralisation been running? 25 years, right? We have allocated funds to every village—one billion rupiah—over the last 10 years. The transfers to the regions have been made. So why are village bridges never built? Even though a bridge only costs 400 million rupiah,” he added.