"If ministries and governmental institutions begin spending in January, then capital expenditure absorption in the first quarter of 2013 is expected to reach 20 percent," Suprijanto said here on Friday.
According to Agus, recent regulations on procurement of goods and services for government, contained in Presidential Decree No.70 in 2012, can assist in carrying out expenditures at the beginning of 2013.
"The regulation stated that ministries or governmental institutions can make a direct appointment for a contract worth less than 200 million, so that in two or three weeks they can directly execute the project," he explained.
"With such discretion, we believe that absorption of capital expenditure will reach 20 percent in the first quarter and is estimated to reach 25 percent in the second quarter," he continued.
However, Suprijanto admitted there are still barriers for ministries and institutions to accelerate capital expenditures, particularly related to preparation of supporting documents, such as the Budget Implementation Table (DIPA).
"Some ministries and institutions are still reluctant to prepare planning and disbursement documents due to lack of information regarding the procedure," he noted.
He noted that delays in disbursements often occurred in the past, and continue to, because ministries and institutions receive payment for projects at the end of the year.
"Ministries and institutions tend to do so, since they usually handle the disbursement in the first place, which make them rarely collect payments on schedule," he said
Suprijanto further said other countries, such as the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Australia, tend to do the same thing, so their capital expenditure absorption also accumulates in the fourth quarter.
(Y012/KR-BSR/O001)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
