"The Home Affairs Ministry always expects that the regional budget can be realized by a significant amount since the beginning of the year, so that people can reap (the benefits) and development can progress," Director General of Regional Finance at the Ministry Agus Fatoni delivered the statement during a virtual event accessed here on Wednesday.
The event was titled "National Food Inflation Control Initiative for Bali and Nusa Tenggara."
Fatoni remarked that immediate action on the regional budget was necessary in order to ensure an improvement in the people's buying power.
"Currently, the regional budget is Rp1,200 trillion (US$81 billion). This will boost the people's buying power, and this will impact the people's economic growth," he remarked.
Fatoni emphasized that the regional budget should be realized at the earliest, so that development projects, pursued by regional governments, can be initiated at the start of the year.
"If the development is carried out since the start of year, then people can feel the presence of the government and state, and people are aware that the state is (actually) doing development, the region is doing development, so their trust ever grows," he pointed out.
When there is a high level of public trust, then high public participation would also follow, he remarked.
Fatoni called for pursuing budget realization at the earliest, so public services would go accordingly throughout the year, thereby contributing to the improvement in public trust.
All those aspects that come with immediate initiative towards the regional budget would improve public welfare, he noted. Moreover, it would increase regional capability, and in turn, it would attract more investors, Fatoni remarked.
"If the regional budget is not absorbed, then most of our targets that have been outlined would not be met because the programs are not pursued," he pointed out.
He outlined five ways that can be pursued to obtain regional revenue, ranging from intensifying sources of income, pursuing extensification by tapping into unexplored sources of income listed in the law, establishing regional government digitization, improving capability of human resources, and driving creative innovations.
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Translator: Martha Herlinawati S, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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