Dian Kusumo
IDXChannel - The process of infrastructure development in Indonesia is not easy. From planning, budgeting, to execution, there are many risks that can be disruptive.
This was revealed by Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati at the Innovative Financing in Unity event of PT Penjamin Infrastruktur Indonesia (PII) in Jakarta, yesterday.
Moreover, said Sri Mulyani, if you only rely on the state budget, it will be difficult to solve the infrastructure gap in Indonesia.
"If you wait for the availability of the state budget, there will always be a gap," said the former Managing Director of the World Bank.
For this reason, the Government encourages innovative financing so that infrastructure development can run.
The state treasurer said development projects include roads, bridges, tolls, and the need for street lighting and waste handling in the area.
"Everything is not only about needing money, then the APBD is waiting for the state budget. So an innovative financing scheme was created involving the private sector through the Government Cooperation with Business Entities (PPP) scheme," he explained.
Sri Mulyani appreciated the PII business that provides more flexible financing schemes than just waiting for the availability of the state budget.
Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono said that innovative financing can encourage the acceleration of infrastructure development.
Basuki gave an example of the 1,830-kilometer (km) Trans Java Toll Road project which was completed in 2019. According to him, it is impossible to achieve without financing innovations.
In accelerating development, Basuki admitted to wooing the initiators to free up the land with bailouts.
"It went in innovative. It has never been implemented before. It was faster. And later the funds will be replaced by the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu)," said Basuki.
The second innovative financing, continued Basuki, is the cross-subsidy auction. The Ministry of PUPR implemented it through the auction of toll projects. This incentive can be enjoyed by investors who are able to build tolls with the longest sections.
In addition, there is a PPP scheme in the form of available payments. The scheme is not only for construction, but comes down to the maintenance of roads.
(DKH)
