Direct Cash Assistance For Street Vendors And Fishermen Is Too Small

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Association of Strategic Socio-Economic Cadres (AKSES) Suroto said that the amount of Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) for Street Vendors/Stay Owners (PKLW) and fishermen in 2022 is too small compared to restructuring assistance for large corporations.

“State money, which amounts to hundreds of trillions, is stuck in the banking system in the form of placement funds and equity participation. So far, what has been called the MSME restructuring program should be converted to BLT directly for micro and small businesses," he said in Jakarta, Wednesday, February 23.

When micro-enterprises experienced the peak of the crisis in 2020, he continued, the sector only received credit distribution of three percent of the total bank credit ratio.

Of the total disbursement of bank loans to MSMEs, it is said that only 19.75 percent was channeled or did not reach the minimum credit realization quota of at least 20 percent as stipulated in the Bank Indonesia Regulation (PBI).

"Most of the (credit disbursement) goes to medium-sized businesses, which are quasi-companies from large businesses as well," he said.

According to him, the permanent form of fiscal allocation should be in the form of a Universal Basic Income.

This takes into account the large number of micro-enterprises that fall into the category of vulnerable to poverty, thus creating structural problems because there is income inequality in the middle to upper category.

Therefore, the assistance provided to MSME actors cannot be resolved only incidentally and charitable.

"Residents' Minimum Income is a solution, at least to ensure that there are no people who do not eat every day," said Suroto.

The government will disburse BLT for street vendors/stall owners (PKLW) as many as one million people and fishermen for the extreme poor as many as 1.76 million people with each benefit amounting to Rp600 thousand.

The location of the beneficiaries is given to 212 districts/cities that are included in the target for alleviating extreme poverty by 2022.

In a press conference on Monday (21/2), Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto said the BLT distribution program to PKLW and fishermen had been completed at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

"Now it's just a general guideline from the National Police Chief which is being prepared. And it is hoped that in February 2022 this program can be run, "he said.