Government Maintains Quality of Public Services Amidst Budget Efficiency
By: Aditya Chandra )*
Budget efficiency is a strategic step taken by the government in facing economic challenges without sacrificing crucial sectors such as education and health. The government has ensured that budget cuts will be focused on aspects that do not have a direct impact on public services. Thus, the quality of education and health services is maintained, while encouraging the effectiveness of the use of the state budget.
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (Mendikdasmen), Abdul Mu’ti, emphasized that the efficiency policy will not disrupt the education quality improvement program. According to him, important programs such as school renovation, teacher welfare, the Smart Indonesia Program (PIP), and the allocation of School Operational Assistance (BOS) funds will continue to run according to plan. Abdul Mu’ti also added that efficiency will be more focused on the budget for official travel, ceremonial activities, and the purchase of office stationery. This shows that efficiency does not mean cutting essential things, but rather reducing spending that is considered less of a priority.
In terms of the national budget, the government has set an efficiency policy with a total cut of IDR 256.1 trillion. These savings include a reduction in the budget for office stationery by 90%, printing and souvenirs by 75.9%, building rental, vehicles, and equipment by 73.3%, and business travel by 53.9%. Thus, the efficiency carried out aims to reduce expenditures that have less direct impact on public services.
Not only in the education sector, efficiency is also applied in the health sector without reducing the quality of services to the public. The Minister of Health (Menkes), Budi Gunadi Sadikin, said that his party had conducted a careful budget sweep so that it could continue to run crucial health programs. In this efficiency effort, the Ministry of Health will cut the budget by IDR 19 trillion from the total budget of IDR 105.7 trillion in 2025. Budi ensured that this cut would not reduce the quality of health services received by the public.
Furthermore, Budi explained that budget efficiency was carried out with the principle of reprioritization, namely adjusting the allocation of funds to programs that are more urgent and have a direct impact on the community. The budget sweeping process has also been studied in depth, while still considering President Prabowo Subianto’s direction. This shows that the efficiency carried out is not just a cut, but rather budget optimization to achieve more effective results.
The efficiency policy implemented by the government is in line with the Presidential Instruction (Inpres) on Spending Efficiency in the Implementation of the 2025 State Budget and Regional Budget. This step is a strategic effort to maintain the country’s fiscal sustainability without sacrificing sectors that are the main priorities of the community. With targeted efficiency, it is hoped that the state budget can be used more wisely and productively.
From an economic perspective, budget efficiency is a necessary step to create better financial governance. Reducing unproductive spending will provide more space for the government to allocate funds to programs that have a greater impact on the community. This also strengthens the government’s commitment to maintaining a balance between healthy fiscal management and improving the quality of public services.
The efficiency policy implemented also reflects the principle of good governance. By reducing unnecessary spending, the government demonstrates transparency and accountability in managing state finances. This step is expected to increase public trust in the government, while also proving that efficiency is not a service cut, but rather a budget restructuring to be more effective and on target.
The importance of budget efficiency lies not only in reducing spending, but also in better financial management for the sustainability of the country’s economy. With efficiency, the government can allocate resources to more urgent priority sectors, such as infrastructure development, improving public welfare, and national economic stability. Budget efficiency is also one way to avoid excessive deficits and maintain the balance of state finances in the long term.
