Govt Raises Fuel Hike Compensation Budget
20 November 2014 11:34 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government has raised next year's compensation budget for the fuel price hike to Rp18.6 trillion. Initially the allocation amounted to Rp10 trillion, of which Rp5 trillion will be disbursed in 2014 and the remainder in 2015.
Ari Perdana, head of the Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group in the National Poverty Reduction Acceleration Team (SME-TNP2K), said the compensation fund will be distributed to 15.5 million families.
"This year [the fund] is taken from the 2014 state budget. For next year it will be taken from the state budget in 2015," Ari told Tempo yesterday.
Ari said that the compensation fund will be distributed in two stages. The first stage is for the last two months of this year, for a budget of Rp6.2 trillion. The remaining Rp18.6 trillion will be distributed in the first six months of 2015.
Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said the government hopes the people who receive the compensation will use the money to buy basic needs. The government will provide savings accounts in the form of electronic money. That way, people are expected to use the grant on necessities, and not spend it on cell phone credits or other purchases that are "not productive".
JAYADI SUPRIADIN | FAIZ NASHRILLAH | MAYA NAWANGWULAN
