BPS asks for money to meet survey deadline

BPS asks for money to meet survey deadline

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has requested the government
to disburse the money it says it needs to finish registering by
September the number of disadvantaged people eligible to benefit
from assistance funds to help cushion the impact of expected fuel
price hikes in January.

The money, totaling Rp 252 billion (US$25.8 billion), was
needed urgently, BPS director Choiril Maksum said on Thursday, as
local governments would need to begin conducting registration
within the next two weeks if the September deadline was to be
met.

"The Jakarta administration will begin its registration drive
on Aug. 15, while other provinces are expected to do so starting
Aug. 22," he said.

On Wednesday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the government
might raise domestic fuel prices again in January to relieve the
pressure on the budget, currently under severe pressure from fuel
subsidy spending amid soaring global oil prices.

The hikes, according to Kalla, would only take place if the
BPS could wrap up its survey by September.

Choiril explained that the BPS was all set to work with local
administrations as long as the central government provided the
money needed to pay the assessors conducting the survey.

"The problem is that the field workers are not BPS staff, who
could probably be paid later," he said. "They are local
government officers, so they have to be paid as soon as their
work is done."

The BPS is still waiting for the disbursement of another Rp
202 billion for the registration process, Choiril said. The
Ministry of Finance previously paid out Rp 50 billion last month.

Nevertheless, the BPS gave assurances that the registration
process would be completed on time -- at least the registration
of disadvantaged people portion, with its analysis and report to
follow later on -- and that it would cover at least the island of
Java, where more than half of the country's 220 million people
live.

"We'll work hard to complete it by the end of September, or by
early October at the latest," Choiril said.

Meanwhile, State Minister for National Development Planning
Sri Mulyani Indrawati has asked the BPS to conduct the
registration process carefully and accurately within the allotted
timeframe.

"There might be some -- if not a lot -- of people trying to be
registered as poor people so that they can benefit from the
assistance funds," she said.

Based on the survey, Sri Mulyani added, the government would
devise a comprehensive scheme to replace the current fuel
subsidies with direct subsidies for education, healthcare
services and rural infrastructure development.

"Afterwards, it's all up to the finance ministry to calculate
the fiscal impact of the new subsidy scheme, and the President to
make the decision," she said.

The government previously cut fuel subsidies in March, leading
to an average 29 percent increase in domestic fuel prices. The
money saved from the subsidy cuts has been earmarked for
assistance funds for low-income families to help mitigate the
effects of the resulting surge in inflation.