"The government also continues to push for better central and regional synergy. For this reason, the policy of transfer to regions is aimed at improving quality and providing real benefits to the community," he said in his address on the 2024 state budget bill and financial notes before the House of Representatives (DPR RI) plenary session in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He expressed the hope that the benefits of transfer to regions would include harmonization of central and regional spending, especially in efforts to support national priority programs, including economic transformation.
"Then sharpen the management and use of transfers to the regions, especially to improve the quality of public services and inclusive regional development," he said.
The transfer of funds is also expected to increase regional fiscal independence by strengthening regional taxation while maintaining the investment climate, ease of doing business, and encouraging regional financing as a source of funding in the regional budget, he added.
According to him, the 2024 State Budget has been designed to answer current and future challenges. Therefore, the State Budget policy is directed at "Accelerating Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Transformation."
The head of state said that efforts toward economic transformation will be carried out through a short-term and a medium-term strategy.
The short-term strategy will focus on accelerating the eradication of extreme poverty, reducing stunting prevalence, controlling inflation, and increasing investment.
The medium-term strategy will focus on five agendas. The first agenda will be realizing productive, innovative, prosperous, and competitive superior human resources by improving the quality of education and the health system, as well as reforming the social protection system, including strengthening the protection of Indonesian migrant workers.
The second agenda will be accelerating infrastructure development to support economic transformation, especially infrastructure in the fields of energy, food, connectivity, and Information and Communication Technology.
The third agenda will be strengthening the implementation of bureaucratic reform and simplifying regulations; the fourth will be increasing economic activities with high added value through natural resource downstreaming; and the fifth agenda will be encouraging the development of a green economy.
The government in the 2024 state budget draft has allocated Rp857.6 trillion from the budget for transfer to regions.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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