Revealed! The Disaster Reserve Fund In The APBN Is Only IDR 10 Trillion, Far From A Loss Of IDR 20 Trillion Per Year

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) said that from the results of an internal study in 2020 it was concluded that the average value of direct damage caused by disasters in the last 15 years reached around Rp. 20 trillion per year.

"However, the disaster reserve fund in the APBN to fund emergency response and rehabilitation and reconstruction grants to local governments is still below the value of the damage and losses, which is Rp5-10 trillion per year since 2004," he said in a press statement some time ago.

To overcome this gap, the government called Febrio launched innovative funding in the form of a Disaster Pooling Fund (PFB), through the issuance of Presidential Regulation Number 75 of 2021 concerning the Joint Fund for Disaster Management on August 13, 2021.

According to him, FB is the government's effort in realizing its commitment to strengthen fiscal resilience in tackling the impact of natural and non-natural disasters.

“PFB is here to close the funding gap and speed up the disaster management process. Currently, PFB will have an initial managed fund of approximately Rp. 7.3 trillion," he said.

Meanwhile, PFB is managed autonomously by a Public Service Agency (BLU) at the Ministry of Finance. By using the working principle of BLU, PFB not only mobilizes funds, but also invests and accumulates the funds raised.

"As part of the Disaster Risk Funding and Insurance Strategy, PFB allows the government to regulate disaster risk funding strategies through the APBN/APBD, as well as transfer the risk to third parties through insurance of government and public assets," he explained.

So, continued Febrio, PFB is expected to accelerate recovery and protect the most affected people, namely the poor and vulnerable.

"In the next 2-3 years, PFB will fund the purchase of insurance premiums for all buildings belonging to ministries and institutions and work together for co-financing with local governments for regional asset insurance. Thus, the value of damage due to natural disasters borne by the government can be suppressed," closed Febrio.