The minister reminded regional leaders to utilise opportunities provided under the regional autonomy scheme to consolidate the regional fiscal capacity and economy.
"The essence of regional autonomy is that the regional government granted greater authority to manage their own affairs, with the final goal being to enhance the regional fiscal capacity," Karnavian noted in his statement received in Jakarta on Thursday.
Greater regional fiscal capacity -- achieved when the regional original revenue recorded a higher percentage than the central government's transfer in the regional budget -- would boost resilience in regions when an economic contraction affected the central government and the transfer fund, he noted.
According to Karnavian, regional government programmes that rely heavily on central government funds seldom achieved their desired goal.
"If one region remains reliant on the central government fund after being granted autonomy, programmes conceived by the regional government are seldom successful," he stated.
The minister noted that despite several regions still heavily reliant on transfer funds and village funds disbursed by the central government, some other regions have been successful in augmenting their regional original revenue that eclipsed the central government's transfer fund.
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"Those regions have been successful in exploring new income sources from regional-owned enterprises or other sources. A good fiscal capacity will enhance regional development," he remarked.
During a working visit to Lampung on Wednesday (Jan 5, 2022), Karnavian instructed regional authorities to pay close attention to the regional budget and central government's priority programmes.
The minister also instructed local authorities to boost COVID-19 pandemic handling and boost vaccination efforts in the province.
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Translator: Boyke Ledy W, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
