Member of Commission VI of the Indonesian House of Representatives from the NasDem Party Faction, Asep Wahyuwijaya, pushed for an additional budget for the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises in a Working Meeting with BUMN Minister Erick Thohir at the Parliament Complex, Senayan.
According to Asep, the budget allocation of Rp150 billion in the indicative ceiling for Fiscal Year 2026 is considered inadequate to support the implementation of the strategic functions of the Ministry of SOEs. He considered the amount only sufficient to finance employee salaries and administrative operational needs.
"In fact, the Ministry of SOEs has an important role as the controlling shareholder in SOEs that have been transferred to Danantara, as well as a regulator and supervisor, including for several SOEs in the form of Perum such as Bulog and Perumnas," said the people's representative from Electoral District West Java V.
He reminded the importance of strengthening the regulatory function by the Ministry of SOEs, along with the plan to reduce the number of SOEs through the Danantara Investment Management Agency (BPI). He asked the ministry to issue regulations that prevent SOE subsidiaries from entering sectors that can be run by people's or private business actors.
"The Ministry of SOEs must prepare conducive regulations so that the business ecosystem between SOEs, MSMEs, and the private sector remains healthy. SOEs should not kill people's business actors," said the politician from the West Java V electoral district.
In terms of supervision, Asep also emphasized the importance of utilizing additional budget to strengthen the internal supervision function of the Ministry of SOEs, as mandated by law.
He expressed his appreciation for the steps of the Special Staff of the Minister of SOEs Arya Sinulingga who planned to report the alleged fraud at Kimia Farma to the Attorney General's Office. The alleged misappropriation is said to have the potential to harm the state's finances up to Rp1.8 trillion.
