A Study of The Linking Local Expenditure Quality to Reducing Poverty Rate in Bengkulu Province

Abstract

Bengkulu Province is one of the regions in Indonesia that are still dealing with a high poverty rate. Various efforts made by the local government in addressing the problem of poverty have not yet met optimal results, despite the implementation of regional autonomy and fiscal decentralization nowadays. The research aimed to analyze the impact of the local expenditure quality on poverty reduction of regencies and municipality in Bengkulu Province. The analysis method used panel data analysis, which involved data of 10 regencies and municipality from 2015 to 2018. The result showed that the local expenditure quality of regencies and municipality in Bengkulu Province was less influential on the poverty rate. Lacking the alignment of local governments in poverty alleviation programs, so the poverty rate was difficult to reduce. It needs synergy and synchronization of policies with integrated various other fields or sectors, encourage increased entrepreneurial capacity and community empowerment.