Jakarta – Indonesia has made scant progress in changing the outlook of government officials who remain indifferent to providing public service and continue to engage in corruption, the president says.

Despite seven years of reform begun after the fall of dictator Suharto aimed at eliminating the Indonesian bureaucracy's notorious corruption, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said little had been achieved.

"The tendency for (officials to want) to be served is still felt in various state institutions and bodies, even though the duty of the state apparatus is to serve the people," he told regional officials in an annual speech on development.

"The ills of corruption, collusion and nepotism are still happening and with the handing over of financial autonomy to the regions, we can also feel the tendency for irregularities in the regions," Yudhoyono said.

The country's move to decentralise government had led to an array of inefficiencies, such as overlapping taxes and levies imposed by the central and regional governments, he said.

"The government is now trying to overcome these (problems), not only by taking firm measures against the practice of corruption, collusion and nepotism, but also by heightening supervision over state finances," he said.

When taking office last October, Yudhoyono declared war on the corruption that flourished during the three decades under Suharto, but the country is still ranked as one of the world's most graft-prone.

Scores of active or former officials and legislators are facing charges of corruption or have been jailed by courts across the country in the past year.