Economist says Rp26.34 trillion second-stage stimulus helps maintain purchasing power

Executive Director of the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, Mohammad Faisal, has assessed that the government’s second-stage economic stimulus of Rp26.34 trillion is necessary and can help maintain public purchasing power.

According to him, the three stimulus groups — food assistance, transport incentives, and internship and vocational programmes — each have their own targets and benefits for the public.

“Looking at the three types of stimulus provided, yes, the impact reaches all of them. All three are indeed necessary and help from the purchasing power side,” Faisal told ANTARA in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Previously, the government allocated a second-stage economic stimulus of Rp26.34 trillion, comprising stimulus and incentives of Rp2.04 trillion, internship and vocational programmes of Rp6.26 trillion, and food assistance of Rp18.04 trillion.

Faisal explained that food assistance primarily provides support to lower-income groups, while transport incentives can help the middle class, particularly the lower-middle class, with travel.

For the transport stimulus, he assessed that the benefits are still felt by the public even though some incentives are provided over a relatively short period, including during the Christmas and New Year period.

“Although the note is that this is only provided during the Christmas and New Year period, so the timeframe is short. But if we say it helps, then yes, it helps,” he said.

Meanwhile, Faisal assessed that the internship and vocational programmes have a more productive character and have the potential to provide a multiplier effect if they can help participants enter the workforce.

“The more productive assistance is the vocational one, and internships for vocational high school graduates and those who have been laid off,” he said.

However, although the three stimulus groups are deemed necessary, Faisal noted that their coverage is still relatively limited, especially the internship and vocational programmes when compared with the needs of job seekers.

According to him, these needs come not only from workers affected by layoffs, but also from people seeking work, including secondary school and vocational high school graduates.

Statistics Indonesia recorded an open unemployment rate of 4.68 percent in February 2026, down 0.08 percentage points compared with February 2025. Of a labour force of 154.91 million people, 7.24 million were unemployed, while the number of employed people reached 147.67 million.

Faisal said the impact of the internship and vocational programmes on the economy could be greater if participants subsequently obtain employment, which could ultimately affect purchasing power.

“If this succeeds, and actually if the assistance were larger, this could have a multiplier effect because if they can work, this will ultimately have an impact on purchasing power,” he said.

Therefore, according to Faisal, the implementation of the programme needs to be accompanied by efforts to place or channel participants into suitable jobs or business sectors, both domestically and abroad.

For domestic placement, he assessed that the linkage between the programme and the needs of industry and business needs to be strengthened.

“This means the linkage with industry and business needs to be considered. Because what they need is not just the internship itself, but also government assistance to channel them into suitable workplaces,” Faisal said.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs stated that the evaluation of the previous National Internship Programme showed a positive response from both participants and companies, and contributed to opening access to work experience and strengthening the link and match between education and business.

In 2026, the government has prepared a budget of Rp4.14 trillion for the second phase of the National Internship Programme, targeting 150,000 recent university graduates.

A budget of around Rp2.12 trillion has been prepared for vocational training prioritised for 220,000 vocational high school graduates and 50,000 workers affected by layoffs so they can acquire skills to enter or re-enter the workforce.

The government is also targeting the absorption of internship participants into the workforce. Manpower Minister Yassierli previously said around 30 percent of National Internship Programme participants were offered jobs by the companies where they interned, and the government hopes the absorption of programme alumni into the workforce will increase in 2026.

According to Yassierli, the National Internship Programme is one of the government’s efforts to facilitate graduates entering industry through strengthening competencies according to company needs while increasing job opportunities. The government has prepared a quota of 150,000 participants for the programme this year.