Ministry Of Finance Claims PEN Fund To Save 3.4 Million People From Poverty

Illustrated. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Ministry of Finance claims social protection support in the National Economic Recovery (PEN) program issued by the government has saved 3.43 million people from poverty.

Head of the BKF State Budget Policy Center Ubaidi Socheh Hamidi said this social protection program was able to curb the poverty rate in 2020 to 9.69 percent from the percentage due to the previous COVID-19 which was estimated at 10.96 percent.

"From some of our data and calculations, it is estimated that 3.43 million people have been saved from poverty because of the social protection program," he said, in a virtual discussion, Monday, November 23.

Furthermore, he explained that the realization of the PEN program social protection reached IDR 193.07 trillion or 82.4 percent of the ceiling IDR 234.33 trillion until 18 November 2020.

A number of programs in social protection, he said, have been absorbed almost 100 percent, including the Family Hope Program (PKH), rice assistance and pre-employment cards in social protection groups.

"The realization of social protection is 82.4 percent capable of maintaining the consumption of the poor and vulnerable to poverty," he said.

In his presentation, Ubaidi also revealed that the PEN program encourages new business units, namely the category of business people assisted by laborers or temporary employees, up 1.13 million business actors thanks to the support of MSMEs.

Not only that, according to him, the PEN program also encouraged 40 thousand self-employed people. In the PEN program, the government has allocated a budget ceiling for UMKM support of Rp. 114.81 trillion and up to November 18, it has absorbed Rp. 96.61 trillion or 84.1 percent of the ceiling.

The MSME assistance includes interest subsidies for 20.4 million borrowers, MSME credit guarantees to 246.6 thousand debtors, electricity discounts / fee waivers for 31.4 million household customers and MSMEs. Including in the form of investment financing to 101 thousand MSMEs and micro business assistance to 9.32 million recipients.

"So the indication of medium and large businesses is declining, turning to MSMEs," he explained.

On the same occasion, the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) predicts that the number of poor people in the country will increase in 2021. This is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Executive Director of Indef Tauhid Ahmad said the calculation of the poor in 2020 which was carried out at the beginning of the year did not reflect the true pandemic situation. In the next year the poor population will reach 10.5 percent or an increase of about 1 million with a total of 28.37 million.

"The assumption is that the national economic recovery program is not strong enough to restrain the growth rate of public consumption, especially the poor and vulnerable to poverty," said Tauhid.