Camelia Pasandaran – Indonesia has taken a major step forward in its attempts to trim its bloated, inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy, announcing on Friday a moratorium on the hiring of new civil servants.

The ban does not apply to some key areas, including education, health care and security.

E.E. Mangindaan, the minister for administrative reforms, speaking at the Vice Presidential Palace, said the moratorium was part of the government's bureaucratic reform program, which aimed to "find the right" size for each central and regional government department.

The agreement was originally scheduled to be signed by three ministers on Friday but has been delayed until next Wednesday.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardjoko recently said that Indonesia's 4.7 million civil servants placed an unnecessary burden on the state budget.

Sadu Wasistiono, an adviser to the Home Affairs Ministry, said that as many as 124 of the nation's 491 districts could not afford to pay the salaries of their civil servants due to the high costs.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said the aim of the program was to "provide the minimum" number of state employees.

"We may transfer civil servants from one institution to another, or from one district to another," Gamawan said. "Many capital cities have an excess of employees but many remote districts have a shortage."

Mangindaan said the moratorium would take effect from Sept. 1 to December 31, 2012. He said the government had not calculated the optimal number of civil servants.

The high number of civil servants has often been blamed on politicians making political promises to regional heads during campaigning. Candidates often promise supporters access to positions within the bureaucracy.

Gamawan said politicians that continued this practice would face strict sanctions under a revision to the Regional Governance Law.