Revenue-Sharing Funds in the Spotlight at National Development Orchestration Forum

The issue of revenue-sharing funds (DBH) came under scrutiny at the recent National Development Orchestration Forum. Several local governments in Kalimantan complained about the decline in transfers to regions (TKD) amid high fiscal dependence on the natural resources sector. One of those raising questions was Risa Ahyani, Head of the Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD) of Kotabaru Regency. She questioned the central government’s response to the drop in revenue-sharing funds for regions in Kalimantan. According to her, the situation poses a heavy challenge amid local efforts to maintain economic growth, curb inflation, reduce stunting, and boost employment absorption. “In Kalimantan, we are often said to be not independent because our revenue-sharing funds are high. Compared to own-source revenue (PAD), it’s certainly low because the tax management policy is like that,” said Risa during a discussion session at the event, which was part of the Appreciation for High-Performing Local Government Performance 2026 Regional Kalimantan series. Deputy Interior Minister Bima Arya stated that DBH is fundamentally an instrument to reduce inter-regional disparities while returning some benefits of natural resources to producing regions. However, its implementation still faces various issues, from distribution formulas and disbursement delays to budget usage limits. “In Kalimantan, the most questions that arise are about DBH,” he said. According to the Deputy Minister, the central government continues to communicate with the Ministry of Finance to refine the DBH scheme in the Law on Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments (HKPD). One issue still being discussed is the status of affected regions that are not producing areas but experience impacts from natural resource activities. Secretary of the Directorate General of Regional Financial Development at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Horas Maurits Panjaitan, explained that the latest regulations expand the categories of DBH recipients for natural resources. In addition to producing regions, the government now accommodates directly affected regions and processing regions. “Affected regions, for example, are areas that border directly or are impacted by negative external effects such as pollution from natural resource activities,” he said. Meanwhile, processing regions are areas where natural resources are processed, such as smelter zones or oil refineries. However, Maurits emphasised that the status of processing regions does not automatically entitle them to a DBH portion equal to that of producing regions. On the same occasion, the Director General of Regional Autonomy at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Cheka Virgowansyah, stressed the importance of regional creativity in facing the decline in TKD. One approach is through creative financing and increasing own-source revenue (PAD). According to Cheka, the central government is currently evaluating around 140 regions daily to map APBD conditions and find more realistic fiscal solutions. He also cited examples of several regions utilising social media like TikTok to connect job seekers with companies, while promoting workforce upskilling programmes. “In the past, people went to job fairs; now, job vacancies come to homes via social media,” he said.