Bandung (ANTARA) - The realization of budget fund for the COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Program (PC-PEN) has, as of August 5, 2022, reached Rp168.3 trillion, or 36.9 percent of the ceiling of Rp455.62 trillion for this year.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati conveyed the information at the KiTA state budget press conference, Jakarta, on Thursday.

"Because the economic recovery has been going on and the handling of COVID-19 is getting better, we see that the realization of PC-PEN is also on hold," she said.

The realization includes healthcare spending of Rp32.3 trillion, or 26.3 percent of the Rp122.54 trillion ceiling, which was used for the payment of patient claims (Rp20.9 trillion) and incentives to health workers (Rp2.2 trillion).

Then, Rp 1.2 trillion went toward health tax incentives and Rp 5.6 trillion toward regional budget (APBD) support, including Village Funds, for handling COVID-19, Indrawati said.

The PC-PEN realization includes community protection of Rp77.8 trillion, or 50.2 of the ceiling of Rp154.76 trillion, the minister informed.

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Furthermore, direct cash assistance (BLT) of Rp7.2 trillion for cooking oil purchases was provided to 21.8 million recipients, Rp8.1 trillion was distributed to 2.3 million participants of the Pre-Employment Card program, Village BLTs of Rp16.1 trillion were disbursed to 7.6 million families, and cash assistance of Rp1.3 trillion for street vendors, stalls, and fishermen (BT-PKLWN) was distributed by police to 683 thousand recipients and the military to 1.4 million recipients.

"This is quite good, it means that we have paid or given to the community or social support in the middle of the year," she said.

The PC-PEN realization also includes disbursals of Rp58.3 trillion, or 32.7 percent of the ceiling of Rp178.32 trillion ceiling, under economic recovery programs, including labor-intensive programs (Rp10.3 trillion), tourism and creative economy programs (Rp2.7 trillion), and the food security program (Rp7.8 trillion), the minister said.

It also includes spending on information and communication technology (Rp5.3 trillion), industrial areas (Rp0.8 trillion), MSME support in the form of interest subsidies and guarantee fees (IJP) (Rp14.9 trillion), tax incentives (Rp9.9 trillion), and infrastructure and connectivity (Rp6.7 trillion), she added.

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Translator: Astrid F, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Suharto
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