Illustration of endowment funds. (REUTERS / Thomas White).

Political Promise, The Government of Indonesia Targets Priority Endowments to Reach IDR 250 Trillion

Jakarta, Indonesia - According to Deputy II Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Yanuar Nugroho, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) targets the management value of four priority endowments in the next five years to reach IDR 250 trillion as Jokowi's political promise.

It is reported that the four endowments referred include education, research, culture, and higher education. For education endowments are targeted to reach IDR 100 trillion, while the remaining endowments of research, culture and higher education are at a minimum of IDR 50 trillion until 2024 for the next election. However, this priority endowments program have not completed yet.

To reach the target, the government is currently redesigning the management of each endowment fund, whether all will be placed in the Ministry of Finance or a certain institution will be formed specifically to manage the endowment to ensure that the funds are channeled perfectly.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said that she acknowledged the management of endowments was quite challenging because the government had to choose the right investment instruments so the yields were also high. Therefore, the government is developing a strategy so that endowment governance can be better than before.

It is reported that the government will allocate university endowments of IDR 5 trillion. Then, the endowment of cultural funds and research is around IDR 1 trillion- IDR 2 trillion. Meanwhile, the education endowment itself has been started earlier and is managed by the Education Fund Management Agency (LPDP) since a few years ago, now the amount of management of the funds has reached around IDR 60 trillion.

However, the amount of funds can change with the fiscal capacity in the State Budget (APBN) next year. If it is indeed limited, it is possible that the number will be reduced by more than 50 percent, adjusting to the state budget.

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20190731145806-532-417116/pengelolaan-dana-abadi-prioritas-ditargetkan-rp250-triliun