TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Religious Affairs and the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII have agreed on the hajj pilgrimage cost (BPIH) in 2019 at Rp35,235,602 or equal to US$2,481 with an assumed exchange rate of Rp14,200 per US dollar.

“The average hajj cost this year is similar to that in 1439 Hijri or 2018,” said Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin in a written statement on the ministry’s website kemenag.go.id, Monday, February 4.

The BPIH decision was inked by Lukman and head of DPR Commission VIII Ali Taher during a meeting in the parliament building. The draft would be then sent to President Joko Widodo for the issuance of the Presidential Decree on BPIH in 1440 Hijri/2019.

Read: Ministry: Country's Hajj Cost is Cheapest among ASEAN Countries

According to Lukman, based on the rupiah exchange rate, the 2019 BPIH is the same as that in the previous year. However, based on the dollar rate, the figure is lower by US$151 considering the average 2018 BPIH was US$2,632.

Lukman claimed that the haj cost in Indonesia was the lowest among ASEAN countries. For the past four years, he outlined, the average cost of hajj pilgrimage in Brunei Darussalam was above US$8,000, Singapore at above US$5,000, and Malaysia at US$2,500.

“The congregations pay BPIH that includes a living cost [at the Holy Land] amounted to US400 that will be returned at Hajj Dormitory before departure,” Lukman noted.

FRISKI RIANA