Anticipating Corona, the Government Accelerates the Phase II Disbursement of Family Hope Program

JAKARTA (March 16, 2020) - Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P. Batubara takes various quick steps to anticipate the spread of the corona virus impacts. One of them is to accelerate the phase II disbursement of Family Hope Program (PKH), which is rescheduled from April to March 2020.

Minister of Social Affairs stated, according to President Joko Widodo's direction, the government had to maintain the purchasing power of PKH beneficiaries as they were very vulnerable to economic slowdown due to the spread of the corona virus (Covid-19).

"Every year, PKH assistance is disbursed in four stages in January, April, July, October. Specifically for this second stage, it is rescheduled from April to March 2020, "Ari said, the nickname of the Minister of Social Affairs, in Jakarta, today (03/16).

The Minister hopes that the acceleration of PKH fund disbursement can maintain the purchasing power of PKH beneficiaries and to improve their children's nutrition to strengthen their immunity amidst the spread of the corona virus.

"If the nutrition is maintained, it will reduce their chances of developing the disease, including Covid-19. From the reports that I have received, many beneficiaries have disbursed their funds in a number of regions, "said the Minister.

The Ministry of Social Affairs identified beneficiaries that had disbursed the assistance in phase II such as South Kalimantan, Lampung (East Lampung regency, Pesawaran), Bengkulu, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Banten (Pandeglang, Serang and Lebak Regency), Central Java, Maluku and North Maluku, Central Sulawesi and South Sumatra.

Director General of Social Protection and Security, Pepen Nazaruddin, explained that the government provided more than IDR 7 trillion in phase II social assistance disbursement. "Until 10 May 2020, the funds disbursed from the Ministry of Finance worth Rp7,014,888,950,000 for 9,214,185 beneficiaries," Pepen said.

Pepen also appealed for PKH beneficiaries not to panic with the latest development. "We hope that there will be no food price fluctuations, so the beneficiaries are advised not to panic on the issue of the corona virus because the government has tried to diminish it," Pepen said.

Siti Rohani, beneficiary from Metro City, Lampung Province felt the benefits of the phase II disbursement of PKH. Siti said that she was happy to be able to receive the social assistance faster than usual as this could help her meet the needs of her children.

"I will use this money to meet the children's nutritional needs and school needs," said Siti. The toy merchant also claimed not taking all the funds at once. "I took just as sufficient to make the end meets and save the rest in my account," she said.

Bureau of Public Relations

Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs