A new mobile application is bringing Indonesia’s state budget and expenditure, including allocations on COVID-19, into the hands of over 80 million mobile users in the country. It will provide them with access to reliable, relevant, and timely information about the government’s budget and how the money is being disbursed.
Development of the application is part of the European Union’s support for Indonesia’s public finance reform. Over the past six years, the EU has contributed €10 million toward the €20 million Public Finance Management Multi-Donor Trust Fund, which is managed by the World Bank.
As the country is combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, the mobile application has been updated to include information on budget allocations for COVID-19 under six different categories of expenditures: health related expenditures, social protection related expenditures, business incentives, small medium enterprises supports, corporate financing as well as support to local governments and economic sectors.
“I am excited to see the inclusion of COVID-19 related budget and expenditure in the application,” says Muhammad Deri, a recent university graduate in Jakarta. “It helps us see what the government is doing to fight the pandemic and how much of our state budget is allocated for it,” he adds.
We are hopeful that this mobile application will provide more transparency and increase public participation in the government’s budgeting process.
Arun Arya, Senior Public Sector Management Specialist of the World Bank
The application also includes a feedback feature which allows users to actively participate in the process and provide monitoring input.
Indonesia currently ranks 18th in the world in budget transparency and second in citizen’s participation in budgeting. “We are working closely with Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance and other key stakeholders in developing this mobile application,” says Arun Arya, Senior Public Sector Management Specialist of the World Bank. “We are hopeful that this mobile application will provide more transparency and increase public participation in the government’s budgeting process,” he added.