Government prepares Pertalite restriction system while improving DTSEN
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government has stated that preparations for a system to restrict subsidised Pertalite fuel for deciles 9 and 10 are being carried out while improving the National Socio-Economic Single Data (DTSEN).
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, when confirmed by journalists at the Ministry of Finance office in Jakarta on Wednesday, explained that the DTSEN data is currently in the process of being improved. The Finance Ministry has previously provided budget support of Rp7 trillion to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) to optimise data collection, including the economic census and DTSEN data.
“The DTSEN data and the Economic Census, if I am not mistaken, amount to almost Rp7 trillion, with various components. So, they asked for time at the beginning of the year, for additional budget to ensure the DTSEN is good,” said Purbaya.
He estimated that the DTSEN data will be more accurate next year. Meanwhile, the implementation of the Pertalite restriction policy will take greater account of economic dynamics and the condition of society.
“Later we will look at the economic dynamics and the public, but we are all preparing the system. Once it is ready, then we will implement it,” said Purbaya.
“But if there is an issue like that (incorrect decile data), it certainly will not affect everyone. Only some people. If there is a problem, for example before the new DTSEN is released, we will handle the cases one by one,” the Finance Minister added.
The plan to restrict Pertalite for deciles 9 and 10 is still under review, so Pertalite distribution is currently proceeding as usual, as conveyed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia.
“The Pertalite restriction is still under discussion,” said Bahlil on Wednesday (19/8).
If the discussion has not yet produced a decision, he continued, then Pertalite distribution will continue as it is at present. Accordingly, Bahlil stated that the rules currently in force are 200 litres of Pertalite per day for buses and trucks, and 50 litres per day for four-wheeled vehicles.
Regarding deciles, BPS has stated that the decile figures in DTSEN should be understood as a description of relative position in welfare ranking, not as a single measure of a family’s economic condition.
Head of BPS Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti explained that decile determination is not based solely on income, ownership of one type of goods, electricity capacity, occupation, or any single indicator. The ranking considers various socio-economic characteristics together, including housing conditions, drinking water sources, cooking fuel and energy, asset ownership, electricity capacity and consumption, family composition, education, occupation, health, and disability.
This information is considered together using the Proxy Means Test (PMT) statistical method to estimate a family’s welfare level based on observable characteristics. A decile position can change as a family’s socio-economic conditions change and as its relative position compared with other families changes. Therefore, the relevance of DTSEN needs to be continuously maintained through data updating.