Against the Economic Slowdown, Government Strengthens the Purchasing Power of KPM Through Social Assistance

JAKARTA (March 6th 2020) - The Director General of Poverty Handling (Dirjen PFM), Andi ZA Dulung said that the increase in the basic food assistance program from March to August 2020 aims to strengthening the purchasing power of beneficiary families (KPM). "For that they (KPM) are added IDR 50,000 every month for six months, starting from March to August, so we wait and see how the (economic situation) develops," said the Director General of PFM during an exclusive interview with CNBC Indonesia.

This was explained by the Director General of PFM because the government saw that KPM as the community with the lowest economy would be the first to be affected. "Because there is the possibility of an economic slowdown, due to the situation from this corona, the government really sees that this is definitely the first to be affected by the lowest people, the purchasing power will definitely decrease," explained the Director General of PFM.

The Director General of PFM continued, if there is an economic slowdown, the government must channel funds as quickly as possible to the community and this basic food program is a program that can quickly reach the community. "If there is already a program, there is already a community account number, then we will immediately distribute it to the community," said the Director General of PFM.

The Director General of PFM said that the basic food assistance program and its additions were intended for families categorized as poor or vulnerable to poverty, which in this case were KPM. "The basic food assistance program, the value of the aid for the past six months, has increased from IDR 150,000 to IDR 200,000. Last year, each month the beneficiary families were given assistance worth IDR 110,000, this year, starting January, we will increase it to IDR 150,000," said the Director General of PFM.

The Director General of PFM explained that the assistance provided can only be disbursed to buy food aid that has been determined and cannot be disbursed into cash. "So there is a cash value of IDR 150,000, we put into their account, they cannot take cash, they must spend that money on food as determined, rice, eggs and other nutrition," the PFM Director General explained.

The Director General of PFM also continued his explanation regarding the need to provide social assistance to KPM. He said that social assistance is needed to meet the basic needs of KPM and furthermore, hopefully that they can also be given empowerment programs to earn income. "People like this must be social assistance first, why? Because these basic needs must be met first, well after that we enter empowerment programs such as selling so that they have income, after they have income they can graduate," added the Director General of PFM.

At the end of the interview, the Director General of PFM hopes that the basic food and empowerment programs can realize President Jokowi's goal of eradicating poverty by 2024 so that there are no more very poor groups. "In accordance with Mr. Jokowi's direction, that we have to find the person, where is the address, whose name is it, so from there we will determine what programs we add more so that they are right on target and can be lifted according to what Pak Jokowi said in 2024, God willing, there is no more extreme poverty," concluded the Director General of PFM.