He made these remarks before Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo and hundreds of district heads attending the inauguration of the executive board members of the Association of All Indonesia District Governments (Apkasi) at the JIExpo in Kemayoran Fairground here on Thursday.
"I ask regional heads to run their administrations efficiently because without efficiency the amount of development budget and its percentage will not increase. This means that economic growth and welfare of the regions will not increase," he said.
He said the central government will also impart greater authority to regions, particularly when it comes to fund allocations.
In 2016, fund allocations for regions will reach Rp770 trillion, which is equal to the amount of funds allocated to ministries and non-ministerial government agencies.
The transfer of funds from the central government to regional governments has increased three-fold in the past decade. The increase in fund allocations suggests that the central government is serious about increasing the regions potential in the hope that they will not rely too much on the central government, he stated.
"In the previous years, fund allocations to ministries and non-ministerial government agencies were larger than those for regions. But this year, the budget allocations to the two sides are equal. In the past 10 years, the transfer of funds from the central government to regional governments rose by 350 percent. In 2006, the transfer of funds from the central government to regional governments stood at Rp220 trillion. This year it will increase to Rp770 trillion," he said.
Unfortunately, the surge in budget allocations was not accompanied with the economic growth target of 5.3 percent for 2016, he said.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has announced that the Indonesian economy expanded 4.92 percent in the first quarter of 2016. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
