Prabowo Asks Regional Governments to Cut Official Trip Budgets by 50 Percent
Prabowo has implemented a similar policy earlier and claimed to save Rp3.6 trillion.
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Subianto has issued another order on budget efficiency. Governors, regents, and mayors have been asked to cut their official trip (Perdin) budgets by 50 percent.
The policy is contained in the Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 1 of 2025 on the Efficiency of Purchasing in the Implementation of the State Budget (APBN) and Regional Budget (APBD) for Fiscal Year 2025. The presidential directive is included in the fourth point of the instruction.
In the regulation, regional governments are asked to limit spending on ceremonial activities, studies, comparative studies, printing, comparative studies, and seminars. "Reduce official trip expenses by 50 percent," according to the regulation issued on January 22, 2025.
Another presidential directive to regional governments is to limit honorarium spending by limiting the number of teams, which refers to the presidential regulation on regional unit price standards. Earlier, in his speech at the plenary cabinet meeting, Prabowo revealed that cutting the official travel budget in half would save Rp20 trillion.
"If we calculate 20 trillion, we can repair tens of thousands of schools, school buildings. So I say that I am very serious about this," Prabowo said, as quoted by the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel, Thursday, January 23, 2025.
Prabowo had already made budget cuts at the end of 2024. Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati had previously issued a circular letter numbered S-1023/MK.02/2024 on November 7, 2024. The letter asked ministries and institutions to cut their official trip budgets by 50 percent.
Isa Rachmatarwata, director general of the budget department at the Finance Ministry, said the government was able to save the as the policy's result. "From the budget records, we have so far saved Rp3.6 trillion," he said during the APBN performance press conference at his office, in Central Jakarta on Monday, January 6, 2024.
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