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Sri Mulyani defends social assistance as written in law
The finance minister has pointed out that the 2024 state budget contains an allocation for social assistance in a bid to quell speculation that the program was being politicized to favor certain candidates in next month’s presidential election.
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati greets journalists on Jan. 19, 2024 after a meeting at Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta. (Antara/Mentari Dwi Gayati)
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inance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has defended the government’s decision to continue disbursing social assistance (Bansos) against public speculation that the program has been politicized in association with campaigning for next month’s election.
The minister said on Tuesday that the government had allocated Rp 476 trillion for social assistance in the state budget, and that the figure was expected to increase 20 percent to Rp 496 trillion this year.
Sri Mulyani said that all political parties in the House of Representatives (DPR) had been included in discussions on the matter, Tempo.co reported, and that both the social assistance budget and disbursement would be monitored.
"My point is, these numbers Rp 476 trillion and Rp 496 trillion are included in the [2024] State Budget Law initiated by the government, drafted by the DPR and [enacted]," she said, as quoted by Tempo.co on Tuesday.
Read also: Jokowi’s ‘open campaigning’ casts shadow on polls
The social assistance is distributed as groceries, subsidized fuel and direct cash transfer (BLT) for buying food, according to the same article in the magazine’s digital edition.
The article referred to Tempo’s “source in the Finance Ministry” who believed that the BLT was “being used by one candidate pair to secure victory in the presidential election on Feb. 14”.
