The ministry's Director General of Budget, Isa Rachmatarwata, stated that the stand-by fund will facilitate the payment carried out by state logistics agency Bulog and state company PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (ID Food) in fulfilling the food reserves and supplies.
"We and Bapanas are planning to set up a 'stand-by fund' model, which we have and will continue the process. In principle, we want to establish the confidence (and underscore) that money is always limited," Rachmatarwata remarked on Monday.
At a coordination meeting on securing food prices and stocks for the Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr period here, the director general explained that the stand-by fund is one of the ministry's strategies to reduce the rising inflation of food prices in Indonesia.
He noted that Bulog and ID Food currently utilize the service of the State-Owned Banks Association (Himbara) for its funding.
The government will continue to ensure that the two companies will receive adequate and effective funding, including by providing loan interest subsidies, the director general stated.
"We will ensure Bulog and ID Food have adequate funding to fulfil (food) stocks, including by interest subsidies and loans," Rachmatarwata remarked.
The official also reminded Bulog and ID Food to maintain good corporate governance since the Finance Ministry requires verification and audit by the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) to disburse the funding.
Good corporate governance will also ensure prompt processing of all funding for the two state companies, he added.
"We will continue expediting the process to reimburse expenses incurred by Bulog," Rachmatarwata remarked.
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Translator: Bayu Saputra, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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