Meeting DPD, Sri Mulyani Reminds 40 Percent Of Village Funds Must Be Disbursed For Community BLT

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani (Photo: Screenshot of Senator's News Youtube)

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani today attended an invitation to a working meeting of the RI Regional Representatives Council (DPD) at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta. In the agenda, the Minister of Finance explained about the new rules related to the mandatory Village Fund which must be used for direct cash assistance (BLT).

"In the context of optimizing the use of the Village Fund PEN and achieving the target of BLT Village beneficiaries as well as reducing extreme poverty, a minimum 40 percent of the Village Fund is set for BLT Desa and the expansion of criteria for BLT Desa recipients," he said in a statement, Monday, January 24.

According to the Minister of Finance, the mandatory 40 percent BLT Desa is a mandate from Presidential Regulation Number 104 of 2021 concerning Details of the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) for Fiscal Year 2022.

However, this allocation is flexible. It is stated that the general guidelines for optimizing the use of village funds are to protect the poorest. Thus, the people who are most vulnerable to poverty must receive protection.

"Therefore, we issued Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) 190/PMK.07/2021 regarding the management of village funds and the determination of the details of village funds in each village. Even though the Perpres has already made a major policy, in PMK we can provide an exit,” he said.

Furthermore, the flexibility of using village BLT can be approved by the Regent or Mayor. The determination of the reallocation takes into account the recommendations from the Regional Government. This is because each regional head knows the situation and condition of his village in terms of BLT Desa needs.

"Changes in village funds to not use BLT if the village is already prosperous, that's okay, please tell the regent later it will be approved. So it doesn't even have to go to the President or to me," he said.

The Minister of Finance hopes that even though the regions are given flexibility in the use of village BLT, they will still be in harmony with the spirit of the APBN to protect the community.

For information, the Village Fund budget allocation this year is IDR 68 trillion. This figure is lower when compared to the 2020 Village Fund budget, which amounted to IDR 71.9 trillion and 2019 with IDR 72 trillion.

"The APBD participates in carrying out the function of protecting the community from the negative impacts of COVID-19, which is not only in terms of health, but also inequality or inequality is getting bigger," closed the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.