JAKARTA. The House of Representatives has slashed the Trade Ministry's allocation by Rp 283 billion (US$ 17,8 million) in the revised 2016 state budget to Rp 3,66 trillion.
The budget cut was discussed during a Commission VI meeting with the Trade Minister, the industry minister and the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) head at the House complex on Monday.
House budget committee (Banggar) member Eka Sastra said the budget cut was less than the planned Rp 483 million mentioned in a 2016 presidential instruction (Inpres).
"The lower budget cut is aimed at enabling the Trade Ministry to allocate funds for the improvement of the trade system and consumer protection," he said in Jakarta.
Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said the uncut Rp 200 billion would be spent on restructuring the supply chain of staple food, bolstering goods supervision and improving the commodities futures market and the online trading system.
On the other hand, he explained, funding earmarked for non-productive programs has been cut. "We cut the budget to make spending more efficient, while maintaining the achievement of the programs' target," Thomas said. (Ayomi Amindoni)
