Jokowi: 19.9 Million People In 508 Regencies And Cities Have Received BLT Fuel

TERNATE - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said around 19.9 million people had received direct cash assistance (BLT) due to the increase in fuel oil prices (BBM).

That means 96.6 percent of the total beneficiaries have received BLT fuel disbursement.

"Sudah di 508 kabupaten dan kota. Ini (jumlah penerima) juga sudah hampir 20 juta, sudah 19.955.471 penerima, sudah, kata Presiden Jokowi usai penyerahan bantuan subsidi pembaya di Ternate, Maluku Utara, dikutip dari YouTube Sekretariat Presiden, Rabu 28 September.

The President hopes that the distribution of BLT in the transfer of fuel subsidies can increase people's purchasing power and consumption. That way, economic growth will be maintained.

"Buying power, people's consumption can be raised better. That will bring rise, boosting macroeconomic growth that we want," he said.

As for wage subsidy assistance (BSU), Jokowi explained that as of Wednesday, around 48.34 percent of the target recipients had been distributed.

Jokowi said the Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah would continue to accelerate the distribution of BSU in all regions. "This will continue to be accelerated by the Minister, especially those far from the capital city and I will monitor it," he said.

The BLT BBM and BSU programs are part of the social cushion provided by the government after the transfer of fuel subsidy expenditures which resulted in an increase in pertalite and diesel prices. The amount of social assistance due to the transfer of fuel subsidies was determined by the government of Rp24.17 trillion.

There are three types of social cushions for transferring fuel subsidies, namely BLT for 20.65 million recipients with an aid value of IDR 150 thousand each and given four times. The total budget for BLT reaches IDR 12.4 trillion.

Then the wage subsidy assistance with a value of Rp600 thousand per person for 16 million workers with a maximum salary of Rp3.5 million per month paid once with a budget of Rp9.6 trillion.

The last is assistance from local governments using 2 percent of public transfer funds, namely general allocation funds and revenue-sharing funds of Rp2.17 trillion in order to help the transportation sector, such as public transportation, motorcycle taxis, fishermen, and additional social protection assistance.