Indonesia to make digital budgeting mandatory

Indonesia will make it mandatory for central and regional government agencies to track their budget decisions digitally.

“E-budgeting will become mandatory for central and regional governments”, said the country’s new Minister for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Asman Abnur, according to the Jakarta Globe.

“We will assess the system first and then enforce it with a ministerial regulation,” he added.

Asman was appointed to the post by President Joko Widodo following a cabinet reshuffle at the end of July, taking over from his predecessor Yuddy Chrisnandi. Digital government “should stop being just an idea”, Asman said.

“No more theories, no more comparative studies. We should start practising it.” Indonesia is working with the South Korean Government to design an e-government system.

South Korea ranks third in the world in the United Nations ranking this year. Indonesia was ranked 116th, and showed the largest fall in its ranking since 20114.

The government can cut costs by implementing a single system across ministries, added Rudiantara, Minister for Communications and Information Technology.

"Government institutions have been applying their own versions of e-government. We will save a lot of money if we can use a single system," he said.

“Supervision and control will be more efficient” with digital processes in ministries, he added. “E-government works wonders in South Korea, why can't it do the same here?"