Said Iqbal to Meet BPJS Ketenagakerjaan Chief, Questions JHT Balance Claims

President of the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) and Special Advisor to the President on Employment and Worker Welfare, Said Iqbal, plans to visit the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan office. He made this statement to the media after meeting with Deputy Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa on Wednesday (8/7/2026) to discuss the imposition of tax on old-age security (JHT) benefits. He explained that his team intends to meet with BPJS Ketenagakerjaan President Director Saiful Hidayat on Friday (10/7/2026) or Monday (13/7/2026). “After our meeting with the Deputy Minister of Finance today, they will first meet with BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, perhaps in the next two days. I will also meet with the President Director of BPJS Ketenagakerjaan and the Ministry of Finance team, possibly on Friday or next Monday,” Said Iqbal told reporters at the Ministry of Finance office. This will be done to seek clarity regarding the participant data claimed by BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, which states that 95% of participants have a JHT balance below Rp50 million. “Because what they said is that 95% of participants have a JHT balance below Rp50 million. We explained earlier that these are contract employees, whose contracts are perhaps three months long. They leave, they withdraw their JHT, so a person is counted multiple times. Or they are informal workers, as many informal workers also participate in the JHT programme from BPJS Ketenagakerjaan,” Said Iqbal continued. Said Iqbal quoted a statement from President Prabowo Subianto, who said that JHT is a social security programme that is also a right for workers, and therefore these rights must be granted to them. “The President gave a clear message that his view, as President and the Government, is to protect the entire Indonesian nation. Workers’ rights, the people’s rights, must be given, and the state must side with the weak, not the strong. The strong will certainly be given the same space, but the state must protect the weak,” he stressed. According to Said Iqbal, the average JHT balance among workers could reach Rp80 million, meaning it is already subject to the 5% JHT tax. “The average JHT balance for workers is around Rp80 million. I am not convinced that 95% of those are workers with a JHT balance below Rp50 million. It could be that BPJS Ketenagakerjaan is taking data from the accumulation of people who have already withdrawn their JHT, where those withdrawing could be informal workers,” he stated.