Prabowo pledges procurement overhaul targeting Rp400 trillion in savings
Indonesia's president also promised additional funding of Rp100 billion for each provincial capital and at least Rp20 billion for each regency capital.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has pledged to centralise government procurement, saying changes to state spending could save Rp400 trillion. He also promised additional funding for regional capitals, saying the money was ready for disbursement.
Speaking in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on 14 November at the opening of Muhammadiyah's Tanwir gathering and 114th anniversary celebrations, Prabowo criticised agencies' separate purchasing arrangements. He said provinces, regencies and hospitals were paying different prices for identical goods and medicines.
Prabowo said the government would introduce a single procurement system rather than leaving around 500 regencies and dozens of ministries to buy similar items independently. Purchasing goods at uniform prices, specifications and quality could produce savings of approximately 40 per cent, he said.
He put the national budget's allocation for goods and services at around Rp1,200 trillion and estimated that roughly 30 per cent was lost through inflated prices and corruption. He said addressing those problems could generate the Rp400 trillion in savings.
The additional allocations he promised were:
- Rp100 billion for each provincial capital.
- At least Rp20 billion for each regency capital, with potentially larger allocations for more extensive regencies.
Prabowo said the extra funding must be directed to its intended purposes and pledged that savings from the national budget would be used for the public's benefit.
