Fuel Rise, Indonesian Government Distributes Additional Social Assistance of Rp 12.4 Trillion

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian government through the Ministry of Social Affairs will distribute additional social assistance of Rp12.4 trillion. This policy was carried out to anticipate the spike in the price of basic needs due to the increase in the price of subsidized fuel oil (BBM).

“Therefore, the government, the Ministry of Social Affairs will provide top up or additional funds, in addition to the routine assistance received by the beneficiaries. So the total amount later, we will help 20.65 million beneficiaries. And the total value is approximately Rp. 12.4 trillion,” said Minister of Social Affairs (Mensos) Tri Rismaharini in an online discussion on Tuesday.

Regarding the distribution scheme, Risma explained, his party cooperated with PT Pos Indonesia. The total assistance provided is IDR 600,000 for 4 months from September to December.

“But we give it up twice. So at the beginning of September this was 2 times, namely 150,000 times 2 months of 300,000. While the rest in December. Plus it’s routine if he is a recipient of PKH or or a basic food card,” explained Risma.

Meanwhile, Member of Commission VIII who is also a member of the Legislative Body of the DPR RI, Bukhori Yusuf, responded to the government’s policy of increasing fuel prices.

In addition to having a severe impact on the decline in the purchasing power of the poor for basic needs, Bukhori assessed that the government’s social protection program through incentives provided to the community through the Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) scheme over subsidies was not commensurate with the implications of the derivative impact of rising fuel prices.

“With a BLT budget of Rp. 12.4 trillion which is budgeted for 20.65 million KPM, where each KPM receives Rp. 150 thousand for four months, it is clear that the amount is small. This means that each KPM only receives an incentive of Rp. 5,000 per day from the government as a social cushion,” he said to MINA on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, Bukhori continued, the nominal is not even enough to buy one liter of rice. Apart from being relatively small in number, the BLT also has limitations in terms of accuracy, target range, and duration of aid distribution.

Head of the Fiscal Policy Agency of the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu), Febrio Kacaribu, said that his party diverted the allocation of state budget (APBN) funds for subsidies and energy compensation of Rp. 24.17 trillion. This is to ensure that the distribution is right on target.

“As directed by the President, we divert some of the subsidies and compensation, which are clearly not right on target. We want justice, so the decision was taken to shift the allocation,” said Febrio.

The budget reallocation is implemented into a number of major government programs. Among other things, the provision of direct cash assistance (BLT) and wage subsidy assistance for workers with incomes of IDR 3.5 million and below.

Initially, the government allocated Rp152 trillion in subsidies and energy compensation in the APBN for the 2022 fiscal year.

However, said Febrio, the increase in international commodity prices, especially food and energy prices, has made the assumptions set out in the APBN must be revised.

In addition, revisions need to be made after based on the evaluation results that the distribution of energy subsidies and compensation is not right on target with the finding that as many as 70 percent of the recipients are affluent groups.

“Then, we recalculated and received directions from the leadership in May 2022 to maintain people’s purchasing power, momentum for economic elections, especially consumption,” he explained. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)