Prima Wirayani, Jakarta – The Defense Ministry has obtained the biggest portion of allocated spending for ministries and non-ministry government institutions in the 2016 Revised State Budget (APBN-P), ahead of the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, which topped the list in the original budget.

The Defense Ministry will get Rp 108.7 trillion (US$8.2 billion), or Rp 9.3 trillion more than the Rp 99.5 trillion allocated in the original budget.

Meanwhile, the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, which has become President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's prime institution for realizing infrastructure development programs, has seen its budget slashed by Rp 7 trillion to Rp 97.1 trillion in the revised state budget.

The new budget for ministries and institutions amounts to Rp 767.8 trillion, down from Rp 784.1 trillion allocated in the original budget.

"The defense and security sectors have become a priority in the revised state budget because of terrorism and drug abuse issues," Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro told a press briefing on Wednesday.

These considerations led the government to allocate more funds to institutions directly involved in countering terrorism and drug abuse such as the National Police, the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), the minister further said.

The Finance Ministry's director general for budgeting, Askolani, said the additional funds would strengthen Indonesia's primary weapons defense system (alutsista).

"However, there is no shift in priorities [from infrastructure to defense and security] in the revised state budget because both of them are equally important," he said.

Askolani further said the government was still committed to developing the country's infrastructure by allocating state capital injections amounting to Rp 16 trillion to Indonesia Asset Management, which would help ease the land acquisition process for projects. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/06/30/defense-ministry-gets-bigger-budget.html