Bapanas: Food Assistance as Economic Stimulus to Maintain Household Consumption

The government’s food assistance programme, involving the free distribution of rice and cooking oil, serves as one of the primary economic stimulus initiatives.

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Food Agency (Bapanas) states that food assistance acts as an economic stimulus to maintain household consumption, strengthen public purchasing power, and support national economic growth.

“The food assistance programme, involving the free distribution of rice and cooking oil, is one of the economic stimulus initiatives relied upon by the government,” said Bapanas Head and Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Therefore, he conveyed that Bapanas ensures the national availability of rice and cooking oil is more than adequate, with Government Rice Reserves (CBP) stocks increasingly strong at 5.2 million tonnes.

“Our current stock for (reserves) rice is 5.2 million tonnes,” Amran explained.

During the first quarter, the total number of Beneficiary Families (KPM) who have received food assistance reached 1.85 million KPM, with a total of 37.1 million kilograms of rice and 7.4 million litres of cooking oil. The target for food assistance distribution aims at 33.2 million KPM across Indonesia.

This realisation consists of distributions in January and February to 992,800 KPM and March, which successfully targeted 864,000 KPM.

For the implementation of food assistance in 2026, Bapanas has issued a policy extending the deadline for distribution until 31 May.

Indonesia’s annual economic growth in the first quarter of 2026 was the highest compared to all first quarters since 2021.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded economic growth of 5.61% in the first quarter of 2026. This achievement has not been surpassed in previous years.

“If we look at the first quarter of 2026 at 5.61%, that is the highest growth. If we look at the first quarter (since) 2021, none has exceeded 5.61,” said BPS Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti.

From the expenditure side, the government is deemed capable of consistently maintaining public purchasing power. This is reflected in the largest contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) coming from household consumption, at up to 54.36%, with growth of 5.52%.

The highest household consumption growth was in the restaurant and hotel group at 7.38% and the transportation and communication group at 6.91%. Meanwhile, the food and beverages group excluding restaurants contributed 4.54% to household consumption growth.

Amalia stated that various economic policies implemented by the government serve as instruments to support Indonesia’s economic growth rate. This includes economic stimulus packages that encourage public consumption, such as the food assistance programme.

“Furthermore, from the sources of growth in the first quarter of 2026, household consumption remains the largest source of growth, at 2.94%,” Amalia explained.

This was driven by the momentum of the National Religious Holiday (HBKN) of Eid al-Fitr, as well as the implementation of the government’s priority development programmes.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto stated that the government continues to optimise various fiscal programmes throughout this year, including food assistance, to maintain public purchasing power and strengthen national economic resilience.

“Fiscal policies will be optimised to maintain the momentum of achieving the 2026 growth target and serve as a buffer against global economic turbulence. (Including) the acceleration of food assistance for April-June to 33.2 million beneficiary families,” said Airlangga.