Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that his side is committed to providing food assistance for 21.6 million people for three months during the National Religious Holidays (HBKN) of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr.
“We have discussed with the president (Joko Widodo) to disburse rice assistance to around 21.6 million people, with 10 kilograms of rice (for each beneficiary), for three months,” the minister told the media after opening the 2023 Indonesia International Furniture Expo (IFEX), here, on Thursday.
He affirmed that the assistance will be provided in March, April, and May 2023. However, he did not furnish detailed information on the date of the aid distribution.
The attempt aims to maintain the stability of the price of basic commodities ahead of Ramadan month that is estimated to fall on March 23 to Apr 21 and Eid al-Fitr on April 22.
Regulations for the distribution of aid are being drafted by the Finance Ministry and the National Food Agency (Bapanas).
The coordinating minister noted that rice assistance will be disbursed by State Logistics Agency (Bulog).
In addition to rice, the government will provide assistance through the provision of chicken, meat, and eggs that will be distributed by state-run food holding company ID FOOD, he stated.
Earlier, Director General for Budgeting at the Finance Ministry Isa Rachmatarwata noted that his side was awaiting an update on the assistance beneficiary data from the Social Affairs Ministry before allocating the budget for food aid provision ahead of Ramadan.
He expected that the aid distribution can be conducted immediately in March 2023 since the rice assistance had been readied by Bulog.
His side and the Social Affairs Ministry are still discussing the distribution mechanism of the aid.
According to the Social Affairs Ministry’s data in 2022, the number of aid beneficiaries had reached 20.65 million.
Apart from waiting for an update on the beneficiary data, the Finance Ministry was also reviewing the price of rice in the market to be used as a benchmark to determine the total budget that had to be prepared for providing the assistance.
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