2010 STATE BUDGET LIMITED TO RP700 TRILLION

Jakarta, Nov 12 (ANTARA) - The 2010 state budget may not exceed Rp1,000 trillion, limited to Rp600-700 trillion because the government wanted to increase the role of the private sector, a minister said here Wednesday.

State Minister for National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta when opening a seminar about internal auditor roles in National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) said his team was preparing a government work plan for 2010 as well as a National Medium Term Development Plan covering the 2010-2014 period which will become a foundation of the vision and mission of the presidential and vice presidential candidates in their campaigns.
"At present to raise the Gross Domestic Product, almost 80 percent of the required funds comes from the state budget. It is not likely that this happens in 2010 since the government's earning is also predicted to decrease. We have to maintain the balance between the public and private sectors," the minister who is also the Bappenas chairman, said.
"The most important thing to be done by the president in the next period is to restore the people's trust as I predict that we will still face a financial crisis in the next five years," he said.
He exemplified that the 2009 budget for education reached Rp 212.64 trillion or approximately five percent of the GDP compared to the Rp 60-70 trillion under the 1945 Constitution.
"The portion for education sector will still be 20 percent but the figure will be lower," he said.
Therefore, he explained, efficiency in the budget was absolutely necessary and the internal auditors' role was required to achieve the purpose.
"Cost saving through tenders for government projects had lowered the owner's estimate value down to 20-25 percent," he said.
The saving should be maintained so that the remainder could be carried over to other significant government projects.