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Manpower minister promises more accurate, targeted wage subsidy scheme
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A man transports vegetables he bought at a wholesale market on his motorbike in Jakarta on April 13, 2022. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
T
he Manpower Ministry is preparing a more accurate, targeted scheme for the wage subsidy program (BSU) for low-income formal workers to help shield the workforce from high inflation.
The prospective beneficiaries are workers who receive monthly wages of less than Rp 3.5 million (US$241) and are already registered with the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan).
“The government really understands the situation of workers," Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said on Sunday during a May Day event in Surabaya, East Java. "We are currently preparing the 2022 BSU instrument. We want to ensure that the wage subsidy program is implemented in a precise, accurate and accountable manner."
For 2022, the government prepared Rp 8.8 trillion for a potential 8.8 million BSU recipients, whereby each would receive Rp 1 million. This year's budget allocation is the same as the one implemented in the previous year.
The government, according to Ida, is open to the possibility of increasing the budget as the number of eligible recipients is likely to rise after the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan saw an increase in new participants.
The wage subsidy aims to provide a buttress for workers in staving off the imminent threat of inflation, as the war between Russia and Ukraine has led to a drastic spike in global commodity prices. Inflation rose to a nearly two-year high of 2.64 percent in March due to the spike.
"RA::Calls mount for Govt to expand wage subsidy scheme::/business/2022/04/26/calls-mount-for-govt-to-expand-wage-subsidy-scheme.html]
