Regional Budget Boiling Point
Regional budgets are running short after the central government cut transfers. Public services are grinding to a halt.
The Ministry of Home Affairs informed West Sulawesi Governor Suhardi Duka on July 5, 2026, that they were compiling data on regions unable to pay personnel expenses, including government employee salaries. The deadline for this information was only a day away. The letter required regional heads to provide details such as employee numbers, spending, and funding gaps. The deadline was set for noon on July 6, according to the letter.
Suhardi Duka expressed the urgency of the situation, stating that they filled out the forms and submitted the data to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The West Sulawesi Provincial Government was facing a shortage of funds to pay salaries for around 4,000 PPPK (public personnel and procurement contract) employees, who primarily function as teachers and health workers. The government had only enough money to cover salaries for ten months that year.
West Sulawesi's budget had been reduced by the central government, with a decrease in regional transfer funds (TKD), a disappearance of the special special allocation fund (DAK), a decrease in the general allocation fund (DAU), and the suspension of revenue-sharing funds disbursements.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
