Implementing Islamic principles and values in public budgeting: a battle of mindset

Purpose - This paper aims to analyse the implementation of Islamic principles and values within the budgetary management of one of Indonesia’s local governments, that of Aceh provincial government. The authors investigate the extent of Islamic teachings in Aceh’s public budgeting to gain an understanding of the challenges in implementing such ideas in practice. Design/methodology/approach - To investigate these issues, the authors used a qualitative interpretive approach in this study, gathering written materials related to the budgeting process and conducting 19 interviews with local government officials, politicians, scholars and a corruption watchdog. Data was manually coded and thematically analysed. Findings - In this study, the authors find that the budgetary management problems Aceh provincial government faces (including poor resource allocation, budget delays and poor accountability and transparency) indicate unsatisfactory performance in incorporating Islamic principles and values into government. The authors argue that a key challenge to a more complete implementation is that the Acehnese’ perspectives of Sharī’ah and its enactment remain limited to particular aspects, such as criminal law, rituals and symbols, and are not extended to wider governance and budgetary practices. Practical implications - The findings are likely to be of interest to policymakers and those who hold them to account, in a region/country where Islamic values and principles largely influence the government and social affairs. They indicate that a broader conception of Sharī’ah would facilitate a more thorough implementation of Islamic principles and values within public budgeting. Originality/value - This study is one of a handful of studies exploring Islamic public budgeting, with its originality lying in the investigation of the challenges faced in implementing Islamic principles in government budgeting.