Rp 6.5t of RDI funds set aside for 2004 budget
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Legislators and the government have agreed to allocate Rp 6.5 trillion of Rp 8.5 trillion in the investment fund account (RDI) maturing next year to help finance the 2004 state budget as part of its non-tax revenue.
The decision was taken during a hearing between the government, represented by the Ministry of Finance's Director- General for Financial Affairs Darmin Nasution, and the House budget commission on Tuesday.
"We usually manage to regain around 88 percent to 90 percent of the matured debts each year, which for next year is estimated at Rp 7.3 trillion. Of the amount, we decided to set aside Rp 6.5 trillion for the 2004 budget while the remaining Rp 885 billion will be loaned back," Darmin told reporters after the hearing.
The RDI funds are derived from accumulated payments of the interest rate and principal the central government obtains from the extension of the two-step loans. The funds have become one of the government's domestic sources to help finance its annual state budget over the years.
The funds are loans from foreign creditors which the government extends to various parties for investment purposes. Aside from state enterprises, owned by the central and regional governments, some of the debtors are also local administrations.
Darmin said that currently, the outstanding debts owed by those parties stood at some Rp 63 trillion.
As of June 2003, there was some Rp 23 trillion in the RDI account, which is currently being kept at the central bank, or Bank Indonesia (BI) and audited annually by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).
RDI has long been regarded as one of the government's non- budgetary fund sources. However, given its significant contribution to the state budget, the government has never considered RDI as an off-budget fund.
For this year, some Rp 7.9 trillion from the account was earmarked to help finance the 2003 state budget.
According to Darmin, the contribution from RDI forms part of the non-tax revenue in the budget.
"But, I cannot reveal the total (non-tax) revenue for 2004 as yet, pending further deliberations on the budget with the lawmakers."
According to the proposed 2004 draft budget, submitted to the House in August, the non-tax revenue will total Rp 72.2 trillion, approximately two-thirds of which will come from natural resources.
The House and the government has been intensively debating the 2004 draft budget over the past few weeks.
Today (Wednesday), the hearing is scheduled to discuss the allocation for subsidies, including the oil subsidy.
Last week, legislators and the government set the basic price assumption for oil at US$22 per barrel, $1 higher than earlier proposed in the draft, a move that would likely push the allocation for the oil subsidy higher also.
Under the proposed budget, the oil subsidy has been set at Rp 12.7 trillion.