DPR Rejects BI’s Pay Raise Proposal

The proposal for raise on salary, benefits, and other earnings by Bank Indonesia (BI) wasn’t entirely approved by the People’s Consultative Council (DPR). The DPR’s Commission XI, for the field of finance and banking, would only allow raise for managerial level and below.

The approved raise will be calculated based on inflation. “We didn’t approve it because of the lasting economic crisis. BI should have a sense of crisis,” said Achsanul Qosasi, deputy chairman of DPR’s Commission XI.

Achsanul reminded that the BI high-official’s salary is already above the average of other state high-officials. The average salary for a council member of the BI Governor is already Rp. 200 million per month. As a comparison, the salary for a minister is Rp. 18 million per month, and the average salary of a director of a state-owned business entity (BUMN) is Rp. 100 million per month.

The proposal of pay raise for BI employees was included in the 2010 BI Annual Budget (ATBI) . BI proposed Rp. 1.95 trillion for the post of salary, benefit, and other earnings, which is Rp. 79.92 billion higher, or 4.26 percent higher, compared to the last year budget.

Bank Indonesia Acting Governor, Darmin Nasution said that the pay raise proposal of 4.6 percent was normal. “That figure already calculates appreciation for performance, employee promotions, and recruitment plans,” he said.

But members of DPR judged that Darmin’s argument was insufficient. “People can see BI’s performance so far, especially regarding bank monitoring,” said Andi Rahmat, member of Commission XI from the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) fraction. The Century Bank case, added Agung Rai, member of Commission XI from PDI-P fraction, is another example of BI’s poor monitoring performance.

After a long debate, a middle ground was found. From the suggested 4.26 percent raise the DPR has only approved a raise of 1.5 percent. And that raise is only for employees of managerial level and below.

If all goes well, the 2010 ATBI will be ratified at the plenary next week. “The salary issue has been decided. But there are other posts, including the cost for monetary control, that haven’t been resolved,” said Achsanul.

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