Social Minister Comments on Jokowi`s Program in 2019 RAPBN
18 August 2018 11:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko `Jokowi` Widodo planned to two-fold raise the budget on the Family Hope Program (PKH) in the 2019 Draft State Budget (RAPBN). The figure would be Rp34.4 trillion from previously Rp17 trillion in 2018.
Social Minister Idrus Marham said the increase aimed at improving the community’s welfare as well as encouraging people’s independence on the economy. “Certainly it will suppress the poverty rate, PKH is one of the effective instruments,” said Idrus at Merdeka Palace, Friday, August 17.
Idrus said the increased budget on PKH program was expected to decrease the poverty rate at 8.5 to 9.3 percent. The figure was emerged based on the previous policy from September 2017 to March 2018 that succeed to decline the rate to 9.8 percent.
The government targetted the program for 10 million families, as in 2018. Since 2015, the number of recipients gradually increased from 3.5 million families to 6 million families in 2016, and 6.2 million families in 2017.
Thus, the Golkar politician refuted the saying that the policy was related to the president’s political interest since Jokowi will run as a presidential candidate along with Ma’ruf Amin in the 2019 Presidential Election.
VINDRY FLORENTIN
