According to the Ministry of Finance, by the end of October 2022, regional government (Pemda) funds deposited in banks reached Rp278.73 trillion.
The large amount of Pemda funds deposited in banks is due to the high disbursement of Transfers to Regions (TKD) in October 2022, but this was not accompanied by optimal expenditure absorption.
"Of all regional governments, East Java has the highest amount of Pemda funds in banks, followed by West Java, Central Java, DKI Jakarta, and East Kalimantan," said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, in the APBN Kita Press Conference last week (November 24, 2022).
Unfortunately, Sri Mulyani did not detail the amount of deposited funds for each regional government.
On another occasion, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian also mentioned several regions with low Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) absorption, which remained below 70% towards the end of the year.
The following is a list of regions with low APBD absorption rates until the end of November 2022, according to the Minister of Home Affairs:
* Central Sulawesi: 44%
* East Kalimantan: 49%
* West Papua: 53%
* Bangka Belitung: 54%
* Jambi: 60%
* Papua: 64%
"Please disseminate this information so that the public knows the performance of their regional heads. In 2024, will they choose regional heads like that, who are unable to manage their regional finances? The consequence is that the community becomes a victim because their money is not circulating," said Tito, as reported by Tempo.co, Thursday (December 1, 2022).
"I remind you, we are seeking money from outside to enter and create a money circulation, but our own money transferred by the Minister of Finance to the regions is not being used," he added.
Tito also urged regional heads to boost spending absorption in the remaining period of 2022, which was only one month left. Previously, Tito had targeted a minimum APBD absorption of 90% by the end of the year.
"We also don't expect the APBD to be 100% spent, because it is needed for payments that cannot be postponed at the beginning of the year, where transfers may be delayed from the central government. For example, employee salaries, water, electricity. These must be paid, so there needs to be a SILPA (remaining budget). But the remainder shouldn't be excessive. So, if we can achieve a target of 90%, that's already good, so that there is money circulating in the community," said Tito earlier this year (January 6, 2022).