The amount and duration of the top-up program for the basic necessities card will be adjusted to the remaining Perlinsos allocation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government intends to redivert the budget of the social protection program (Perlinsos) to lower extreme poverty in 2021, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated.

The budget will be provided for the basic necessities card top-up program and the village fund cash transfer (BLT) program.

"The amount and duration of the top-up program for the basic necessities card will be adjusted to the remaining Perlinsos allocation -- for instance, basic necessities for beneficiary families (KPM) and the reserves of Perlinsos," he stated here on Wednesday.

Hartarto spoke of the Finance Ministry was currently calculating availability of the budget as the amount of the additional assistance will reach Rp300 thousand for each beneficiary.

The aid will be disbursed to 35 priority districts targeted under the extreme poverty reduction program until December 2021.

In addition, the government will broaden the area coverage of the Wage Subsidy Assistance (BSU) beneficiaries to 514 districts/cities in 34 provinces as a budget of Rp1.7 trillion was still remaining.

It translates to the assistance reaching out to an additional 1.6 million workers.

The additional recipients are those who are not recipients of other forms of assistance programs, such as the Pre-Employment Cards, Family Hope Program (PKH), and Productive Aid for Micro Enterprises (BPUM).

Furthermore, the coordinating minister noted that until October 25, 2021, the Cash Assistance Program for Street Vendors and Small Shop (BT-PKLW) had covered 706,996 recipients constituting over 70 percent of the recipient target.

Hence, he assessed that the aid was absorbed well and would be able to effectively help its recipients.

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Translator: Astrid Habibah, Uyu Liman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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