TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sri Mulyani says that Finance Ministry and the House of Representatives (DPR) have scored a hat-trick in relation to a plenary held with the DPR on July 27.
“A hat-trick: Perppu [government regulation in lieu of law] No. 1/2017 on Automatic Exchange of Information, revised APBN [state budget] for 2017, and Law on Financial Accountability for 2016. They were approved in a plenary. I was at the DPR [building] in the morning, noon and afternoon,” the finance minister said during his visit to Tempo office in Jakarta yesterday, August 1.
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Sri Mulyani said that the revised 2017 state budget saw changes to spending and revenue proportion, particularly the highest spending, such as Asian Games, which will be held next year. As for law on financial accountability for 2016 state budget, the government got its first unqualified opinion (WTP) from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
Sri Mulyani said that state revenue is expected to reach Rp1,750 trillion this year, whereas state spending will be around Rp2,080 trillion. The money will be spent to meet the immediate need. Out of 257 million Indonesians, roughly 60 percent are young people who need education, health, nutrition, a freshwater infrastructure, etc., leaving the government with no choice other than to include them in the state budget.
“Both quantity and quality are crucial. In the past 10 years when I served as a Finance Minister [during the Yudhoyono administration], education budget was Rp105 trillion, and now it is Rp400 trillion. The better the spending for education, the more we can increase spending to catch up [with other countries],” Sri Mulyani said.
DESTRIANITA