We conveyed at the meeting with Mr President yesterday that the aid will be extended until 2021 for a period of three months, and we are looking into a six-month extension during the first and second quarters (of 2021)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government has planned to extend the disbursement of aid until the second quarter (Q2) of 2021 for formal workers, with monthly income below Rp5 million, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated.

"We conveyed at the meeting with Mr President yesterday that the aid will be extended until 2021 for a period of three months, and we are looking into a six-month extension during the first and second quarters (of 2021)," Hartarto remarked during a national meeting of the Indonesian Chamber and Commerce (Kadin) here on Thursday.

The minister affirmed that the workers will receive Rp600 thousand monthly for a four-month period to be disbursed in two stages and transferred to their bank accounts.

Eligible workers should be registered on the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) database.

"We have prepared the aid for 15.7 million workers. It means that almost all workers in the industry sector will receive the government's aid," he revealed.

As of September 7, the government had disbursed Rp2.31 trillion of the aid, or 92.4 percent of the target in the first batch, to 2.5 million low-wage workers.

The second batch for disbursement has targeted three million workers, with Rp3.6 trillion of budget. Aid realization, as of September 7, has reached 46.2 percent of the targeted Rp1.3 trillion.

Chief of the Task Force for National Economic Transformation and Recovery (PEN) Budi Gunadi Sadikin noted that the aid is especially for formal workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that had yet to be covered under the government's social safety net program.

Several of the workers were compelled to take unpaid leaves, while others faced salary cuts due to a slack in business, he pointed out.

The government had earlier offered social assistance to low-income households impacted by the pandemic through the Family Hope Program (PKH), Basic Needs Card, Cash Transfer (BLT), village fund cash transfer, and interest rate subsidy for micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).

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Translator: Astrid FH, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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