Government Still Responsible For COVID-19 Patient Costs, Treatment Value Increases IDR 3.8 Trillion In A Month

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The government continues to bear the costs of treating COVID-19 patients included in the health cluster National Economic Recovery (PEN) program scheme.

In the presentation of the Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani today, it was stated that until November 30, 2021, the state had disbursed funds of no less than Rp. 49.6 trillion to cover the costs of treating around 768,900 Covid patients.

According to VOI records, as of October 31, 2021, the total budget issued by the government has reached IDR 45.8 trillion. This value is the coverage of treatment costs for 713,900 patients. This means that there has been an increase in the value of Rp. 3.8 trillion in just one month.

"This is one part of spending on goods aimed at the people," he said through a virtual channel, Tuesday, December 21.

In his explanation, the Minister of Finance explained that another example of spending on goods was the procurement of 284.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine worth Rp26 trillion.

"These are all government expenditures whose benefits are directly felt by the community," he said.

To note, the realization of goods expenditures up to November 30, 2021 is IDR 408.9 trillion. This figure grew by 24.5 percent compared to the same period the previous year with IDR 328.6 trillion.

Meanwhile, the overall government spending plan in the 2021 APBN is IDR 2,750 trillion. Meanwhile, the absorption was only Rp2,310.4 trillion or 84 percent of the ceiling.