Indonesia: Centralized Database of Government Financial Transactions Improves Budget Spending and Accountability | WPN World People News

A comprehensive centralized database of all central government financial transactions that tracks spending in real time is helping the government manage the budget and improve accountability, says the Ministry of Finance.

Launched earlier in April 2015 by President Joko Widodo, the real-time reporting and accounting provided by SPAN, or Sistem Perbendaharaan dan Anggaran Negara, is enabling the Ministry to watch spending limits, deliver on commitments, and better prepare expenditure planning.

“The main feature of SPAN is automation, which supports the audit trail to enhance transparency in the management of state finances and integration of several sub-modules for state financial management. With SPAN as a model, we’ll continue to improve on the management of budgeting, treasury, taxation, and customs and excise,” said Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister of Finance for Indonesia, who opened the conference.

SPAN is a vital component of a project called the Government Financial Management and Revenue Administration Project (GFMRAP), supported by many donors, including the World Bank, the Government of Canada, the European Union, and the Government of Switzerland.

At an international conference hosted Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance, development partners reiterated their continued support the reform and modernization of Indonesia’s public financial management systems.

“By enabling the sharing of information, SPAN contributes towards making financial management systems more accountable. The next step is to use SPAN for improving policy planning and monitoring for more effective public spending. By spending better, the government can allocate more funds to programs that help reduce poverty and share prosperity more widely across Indonesia,” said Rodrigo Chaves, World Bank Country Director for Indonesia.

“The European Union has been part of the Government of Indonesia’s public financial management reform efforts for almost a decade. This through the two phases of the Public Financial Management Multi Donor Trust Fund project,” said Ambassador-designate of the European Union to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, Vincent Guérend.

"In this context, SPAN is one of the most important results of our cooperation as SPAN promotes further accountability, transparency of public finance management and allows a good and swift budget execution. The potential of SPAN is enormous. The European Union congratulates the government’s efforts and look forward to continuing our fruitful partnership,” added Ambassador Guérend.

The Government of Switzerland agreed that improved information systems will lead to improved overall governance. By enabling online real-time data capture at source, SPAN reduces the potential for human error and fraud. These real-time reports on government financial operations are also available to key stakeholders, including the Central Bank and line ministries.

“We look forward to supporting the next phase of Indonesia’s public financial management and fiscal decentralization reforms,” said Yvonne Baumann, Ambassador of Switzerland to Indonesia.

SPAN is now being used by Ministry of Finance at DG Budget and DG Treasury headquarters, including 182 Treasury services offices (KPPNs), and 33 Treasury Kanwil offices (Kanwils) all over Indonesia with more than 3,600 users, serving 24,000 spending units.

Source: World Bank