Govt ready to hand out funds to the poor

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has ordered Minister of Population Haryono Suyono to begin distributing the funds collected under the government's poverty alleviation program.

After meeting with Soeharto, Haryono said that the President asked him to start handing out Rp 32 billion (US$14.4 million) as low-interest loans and Rp 23 billion as savings grants to 13.1 million poor families across the country.

Each will receive Rp 20,000 in low-interest loans and Rp 2,000 in grant money that is to be used to start a savings account.

"We hope that by August, the funds will have been distributed," he said.

Haryono said the fund is part of the government's efforts to alleviate poverty by encouraging people to start their own businesses and save money in banks.

President Soeharto last year issued Presidential Decree No.90/1995, which calls on individuals and companies with after- tax incomes or profits of more than Rp 100 million a year to donate up to 2 percent of their earnings to finance the program. All the funds are channeled through the state-owned Bank BNI 46.

According to Haryono, so far Rp 100 billion has been raised under the program.

According to official data, in 1994 there were 6,572 corporate taxpayers and 4,553 individual taxpayers with after-tax earnings of more than Rp 100 million a year.

The President, together with Haryono and businessmen Sudono Salim and Sudwikatmono, established a foundation called Yayasan Dana Sejahtera Mandiri (Self-reliant Prosperity Fund) last January to manage the fund. (13)