West Java Employee Spending Nearly Reaches 30 Per Cent Threshold; Daddy Rohanady Warns of Need for Stronger Regional Fiscal Position
BANDUNG – Daddy Rohanady, a member of the West Java Regional Representative Council, has cautioned the regional government to exercise caution in increasing the number of employees, noting that employee spending in the West Java regional budget is now approaching the maximum threshold permitted under regional financial management regulations.
Rohanady stated that the proportion of employee spending in the West Java regional budget now stands at approximately 29.7 per cent of the total regional budget allocation. This figure is approaching the maximum threshold of 30 per cent as mandated by regional financial management policy.
“The figure now stands at 29.7 per cent. That is already a warning level. We cannot exceed 30 per cent,” Rohanady told Republika on Friday (13 March 2026).
According to him, employee recruitment would still be possible if the overall regional budget also increased. By way of example, should the West Java regional budget reach 50 trillion rupiah, then the 30 per cent allocation for employee spending could reach approximately 15 trillion rupiah, leaving room in the budget.
However, the situation would be different should regional revenues decline. In such circumstances, the proportion of employee spending could increasingly burden regional finances because the percentage would automatically increase relative to the total regional budget.
For this reason, Rohanady believes the regional government must exercise caution in hiring new employees, whether through civil service examination schemes or contract worker programmes, until the regional fiscal capacity genuinely improves.
“If revenues do not increase but employee hiring continues to expand, it will place strain on regional finances. For this reason, employee hiring must be controlled first,” said the senior Gerindra politician.
Beyond controlling employee spending, Rohanady also emphasised the importance of increasing regional revenues through various sources, including optimising the performance of state-owned enterprises. He also cautioned against the regional government becoming overly dependent on debt to meet budget requirements.
“Debt ultimately must be repaid. For this reason, strengthening regional revenues remains the key,” he said.
He also contended that revenue-sharing transfers from the central government cannot serve as the primary benchmark in budget planning because their nature renders them inherently uncertain.
In his presentation, Rohanady also referred to developments in the West Java regional budget over recent years. He noted that the West Java regional budget once reached approximately 44 trillion rupiah, but subsequently declined due to various factors, including the Covid-19 pandemic and changes to fiscal policy through the Law on Financial Relations Between Central and Regional Governments.
“The West Java regional budget, which had previously been projected to approach 31 trillion rupiah, reportedly underwent correction and now stands at approximately 28 trillion rupiah,” Rohanady said.