Two Decades of (Fiscal) Decentralization in Indonesia: Lessons for Decentralization Champions in Asia

Fiscal decentralization in Indonesia has come a long way in the past two decades. The adoption of two laws, the Law on Regional Government (Law No. 22 of 1999) and on Financial Balance between Central and Regional Governments (Law No. 25 of 1999), marked the “Big Bang” of fiscal decentralization in Indonesia, which started an era of decentralized governance and finance that empowered provincial and local governments to deliver public services and manage their own budgets, both in terms of revenues and expenditures.

This webinar provided an overview of Indonesia’s experiences over the past two decades, during which the pendulum swung mostly towards greater fiscal decentralization and local empowerment.

In order to elevate the global debate on decentralization and localization, the webinar also considered the question: why was Indonesia’s fiscal decentralization reform (largely) successful, whereas fiscal decentralization has proven more difficult elsewhere in Asia? What lessons are there from Indonesia’s experience for champions of (fiscal) decentralization elsewhere in the region?

This webinar took place on Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Webinar video and presentations are available here

This webinar was hosted by the Local Public Sector Alliance together with the USAID Economic Growth Support Activity (EGSA), along with the Forum of Federations, The Asia Foundation, and DeLOG.