Prabowo: State Budget Saves Rp308 Trillion from Cutting Unproductive Spending
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto stated that the government has managed to save up to Rp308 trillion in the budget after enforcing efficiency policies by slashing unproductive spending positions.
In a discussion session with several journalists and economists at President Prabowo’s private residence in Hambalang, Bogor Regency, West Java, this week, President Prabowo explained that the large-scale efficiency of the state revenue and expenditure budget (APBN) aims to protect the people’s money from potential criminal acts of corruption.
“When we first implemented efficiency measures, we saved Rp308 trillion from the central government. Where did that come from? From all sorts of unreasonable expenditures. My conviction is that all of this Rp308 trillion, if not cut, would lead to corruption,” said President Prabowo when discussing efficiency issues in an event titled “President Prabowo Answers”, as quoted from the official broadcast of the Indonesian Government Communication Agency confirmed in Jakarta on Thursday.
The President explained the need for efficiency by looking at Indonesia’s ICOR score, which tends to be higher than that of neighbouring countries.
ICOR or Incremental Capital Output Ratio (ICOR) is an indicator that shows the level of efficiency in using a country’s budget. The lower the ICOR score, the more efficient the country is in using its budget.
Indonesia, said President Prabowo, has a score of 6.5, while neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia each have 4, and Vietnam 3.6.
“So, this figure means 30 percent less efficient than Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, or Vietnam. If I use this as a basis, it approaches our GDP of Rp3,700 trillion or 230 billion US dollars. Around 30 percent of that is 75 billion US dollars. This is inefficient,” he stated.
On the same occasion, the President then outlined the unproductive spending positions that have been cut, including the purchase of office stationery, expenditures for meetings and seminars outside the office, and the habit of procuring goods such as computers and office equipment almost every year.
Not only that, the President also found studies that do not address the main issues, such as poverty and employment.
Therefore, the President emphasised that the efficiency policy will continue to be maintained given the threat of a crisis that many countries, including Indonesia, will face.
Several countries, the President stated, have anticipated the potential crisis by issuing policies to reduce working days and implement a work-from-home (WFH) system.
“I see other countries, for example, reducing working days from five to four (days), the Philippines, Pakistan. Then work from home. During COVID, we did it quite successfully. I think we can do that too. Perhaps 75 percent of employees or civil servants can work from home,” said the President.