Govt to start disbursing funds for poor
Govt to start disbursing funds for poor
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government will soon begin the disbursement of the Rp 7.3
trillion (US$784 million) in funds set aside in this year's state
budget for various assistance programs to alleviate the burden on
the poor arising from the recent fuel price hikes.
The Ministry of Finance's Director General for State Budget,
Achmad Rochjadi, said on Thursday his office had finalized the
complete formulae for the low-income assistance programs, and
sent them to the relevant ministries.
"The ministries will then carry out the actual financing and
implementation of the programs according to these formulae," he
said.
The funds are part of a total Rp 17.8 trillion the government
plans to allocate this year to finance programs targeted directly
at the poor so as to help ease the burden on them arising from
the fuel subsidy cuts and the resulting 29 percent average hikes
in domestic fuel prices.
The low-income assistance programs will mainly consist of
educational assistance provided by the Ministry of Education, the
provision of rice by the Central Logistics Company (Bulog),
health services for the poor provided by the Ministry of Health,
and the rural infrastructure schemes undertaken by the Ministry
of Public Works.
State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani
Indrawati previously said the government would also allocate a Rp
132 billion special "safeguard" fund and set up a monitoring
team consisting of the Development Finance Comptroller, non-
governmental organizations and public auditors, to ensure the
proper channeling of the funds.
Achmad further said that the disbursement of the Rp 7.3
trillion would not need the approval of the House as it was
already allocated in the 2005 state budget that the House passed
into law last year.
"We are merely carrying out what the budget says," he said.
Concerning the Rp 10.5 trillion in additional money for the
programs, however, Achmad admitted that the government would
still have to discuss these with the House and seek its approval.
"We are still drafting the budget revision bill, and hope to
be able to submit it to the House soon," he said, adding that the
government was likely to propose higher revenue targets from
taxes, customs and the oil and gas sector.
Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar previously said that the
government would submit revisions to the budget to the House next
month.
Elsewhere, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told a press briefing on
Thursday that there was a possibility that the funds for the low-
income assistance programs and their allocation might be varied
during the government's discussion of the revised budget with the
House.
The House itself is currently involved in a heated debate on
whether to approve or reject the government's decision to cut
fuel subsidies and increase fuel prices, or whether to hold
further meetings to discuss the subject.
Low-income assistance funds
provided in the 2005 budget
Rural infrastructure development Rp 4.67 trillion
Education assistance programs Rp 1.47 trillion
Health services Rp 1 trillion
Provision of low-cost housing Rp 0.2 trillion
Total Rp 7.34 trillion
Source: Ministry of Finance, Bappenas