Ayomi Amindoni – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has instructed his Cabinet members carry out budget reform in the ministries and institutions they lead, highlighting that budgets must follow programs instead of preset allocations.

Budget reform was among topics Jokowi discussed in a plenary Cabinet meeting on Thursday. He asserted that the government aimed for a more efficient state budget, with non-priority operational costs, capital expenditures and ambiguous budget nomenclatures to be cut.

"We must focus on what we do. It is unnecessary to have a lot of programs, so we will only be concerned about programs that benefit the people and create a multiplier effect on business and society," Jokowi said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

Jokowi also reminded Cabinet members to strengthen synergy by sharpening priority programs. "Focus on what has already been planned to be implemented and realized, to produce great benefits for society."

Aside from sharpening budget reform in the revised 2016 state budget, the meeting also discuss Indonesia's ease of doing business and one-map policy.

According to the World Bank's Doing Business 2016 ranking, Indonesia is ranked 109th among 189 economies in terms of ease of doing business, lagging behind neighboring countries Singapore (1st), Malaysia (18th), Thailand (49th) and Vietnam (90th).

Meanwhile, the one-map policy aims to help resolve agrarian conflict resulting from the use of different data and maps that often cause land disputes and overlapping permits for plantation and mining operations. (ags)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/04/07/jokowi-urges-reform-strategic-budget-cuts.html