This presidential assistance amounts to Rp1.2 million, of which Rp300 thousand is BLT BBM. It can be used to meet children's nutrition.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Social assistance beneficiaries must not hesitate to use the assistance to fulfill their children's nutritional needs, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said.

The president made the remarks while handing over social assistance, including direct cash assistance for fuel oil (BLT BBM) and wage subsidy assistance (BSU), to beneficiaries at the Balikpapan Post Office on Tuesday.

"This presidential assistance amounts to Rp1.2 million, of which Rp300 thousand is BLT BBM. It can be used to meet children's nutrition," Widodo said, according to the press bureau of the Presidential Secretariat.

The President also promised to increase the amount of social assistance if the state budget records a surplus.

"If the state budget records a surplus, Insya Allah (God Willing) we will increase it," he said.

The state budget recorded a surplus of Rp60.9 trillion, or 0.33 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP), in the year ended September 30, 2022, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati informed at a press conference on APBN KITA (Our Budget) in Jakarta last Friday.

The minister attributed the budget surplus to state revenues, which reached Rp1,974.7 trillion as of September out of the target of Rp2,266.2 trillion for 2022. The state revenues swelled 45.7 percent compared to Rp1,355 trillion in the year-ago period.

State revenues grew as the realization of all components including tax receipts, customs and excise receipts, and non-tax state revenues increased, she explained.

According to President Widodo, the disbursement of BLT BBM has so far reached 99.7 percent of the target and the disbursement of BSU has touched 72 percent of the target.

He expressed the hope that the social assistance will increase people’s purchasing power and boost the national economy eventually.

"We hope through the assistance, public consumption and purchasing power can be maintained so that it will have an impact on regional and national economic growth," he said.

During the visit to Balikpapan, the President was accompanied by Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor, and Balikpapan Mayor Rahmad Mas'ud.

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Translator: Gilang Galiartha, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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