Ladies And Gentlemen, Prepare Yourselves, Sri Mulyani Will Cut Discount On Electricity Rates In Three Months To

Illustration of PLN officers (Photo: PLN)

JAKARTA - The government, through the Ministry of Finance, has confirmed that it will cut discounts on electricity rates that have been applied to several groups of society.

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani said this policy was pursued in line with the projected economic growth which is believed to increase in 2021.

"This is the goal if the economy has started to grow, then government assistance will also begin to be withdrawn", she said during a virtual meeting with Commission XI of the DPR-RI, Wednesday, January 28.

In her explanation, the Minister of Finance said that for people with 450 VA power consumption, the rate discount will be reduced from 100 percent to 50 percent.

As for the use of 900 VA electricity, the rate discount is lowered from the previous 50 percent to 25 percent.

"This step is part of an effort to adjust the 2021 budget with a social protection budget of IDR 150 trillion from the previous IDR 220 trillion in 2020", he said.

In addition to discounted electricity rates, six other priority sectors included in the 2021 social protection budget are the Family Hope Program (PKH) totaling 10 million beneficiaries, basic food cards, pre-employment programs, village funds assistance, social assistance for cash allowances of 10 million KPM, and subsidized quota of educational institutions.

In total, the allocation of funds for the acceleration of national economic recovery (PEN) in 2021 is IDR 553.1 trillion. This figure is lower when compared to the realization for the 2020 period which amounted to IDR 579.8 trillion.