Budget disbursement at energy ministry only 6.03% in Jan-April

The realization of the state budget spending at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry only reached 6.03 percent during the period of between January to April this year due to licensing and bureaucratic problems.

The ministry?s secretary general Waryono Karno said during a hearing with the Commission VII of the House of Representatives on Thursday that the realized spending of the budget allocated to the ministry which reached a total of Rp 15.3 trillion for 2011 reached only Rp 922.87 billion during the January-April period.

Of total Rp 15.3 trillion budgets for this year, around 60.45% of total budget allocation is for electricity sector.

He said that the low realization of the budget spending at the ministry was caused by the licensing and administrative procedures for the procurement of capital goods. ?The procurement of goods and services are now being processed and we hope the contracts could be signed in June,? he said, adding that a number of spending items were also still waiting for approval from related agencies.

In order to speed up the budget spending, he said, his office would cooperate with the finance minister and the government?s audit agency BPKP in easing the licensing and administrative procedures, he added. (godang)