A Number Of Local Government Moves To Overcome Citizens' Weights After The Transfer Of Fuel Subsidies

Gas station illustration (Photo via Antara)

JAKARTA - The government ensures that the welfare of the community is maintained following fuel price adjustments. The reason is, the impact of the continued increase in fuel prices has raised the inflation rate

The government also realizes that the impact of inflation can lead to a decrease in people's purchasing power.

Thus, the government takes fiscal policy, one of which is support from the state budget for social support for the poor and vulnerable.

Head of the South Sumatra Regional Office of the Directorate General of Treasury (DJPb), Lydia K. Christyana said that her party had taken a number of policies as a form of state presence in the community.

For example, the South Sumatra Provincial Government held a low-cost rice market operation. Subsidies disbursed for the operation reached Rp1.1 billion.

Market operations are a local government response to the direction of the Indonesian Ministry of Finance to set aside general transfer funds (DTU) with an earmarking of 2 percent.

The allocation is intended for the social protection program (perlinsos) in the context of handling the impact of inflation in the regions.

"The local government can use this budget for social assistance spending aimed at being given to groups of people who are economically affected by the pressure of rising prices in the regions, including motorcycle taxis, MSMEs and fishermen," said Lydia.

Lydia said the presence of the state was not only through mandatory local government spending. The Ministry of Finance has also prepared other social cushions, in the form of direct cash assistance (BLT) and wage social assistance (BSU).

In South Sumatra, there are 551,623 beneficiary families (KPM) who receive BLT BBM.

The amount of BLT is IDR 150,000 for four months or until the end of 2022. However, technically the money from the government was distributed twice, each worth IDR 300,000 which was scheduled for completion in October 2022.

Meanwhile, for BSU, the South Sumatra DGT Regional Office noted that there were 284,295 workers who had a maximum salary of IDR 3.5 million per month in the province who received assistance of IDR 600,000 for one month.

"Nationally, the government allocates IDR 12.4 trillion for BLT and IDR 9.6 trillion for BSU," said Lydia.

A resident named Sri who works as an online motorcycle taxi driver admitted that he was grateful to be able to buy basic necessities at low prices from market operations carried out by the government.

"The price of basic necessities is rising now, Alhamdulillah, we can get cheap rice like this," he said.

He hopes that the government will continue to pay attention to residents who are currently affected by the increase in subsidized fuel prices.

"For people whose professions are like mine where their income is uncertain, sometimes they can order, sometimes not, of course we need the presence of the government to ease the burden," he said.