"The payments of the THR and 13th salary are expected to stimulate the public consumption rate and ensure continued economic transformation," head of the ministry's Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) Febrio Kacaribu remarked in Jakarta.
Kacaribu highlighted that this year, the government provides THR and the 13th salary for state apparatus in full owing to the increasingly positive financial trend experienced by Indonesia.
He noted that during the 2020-2021 period, which was marked by restrictions placed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government decided to cut the amount of THR and 13th salary paid to state apparatus in order to fund efforts aimed at assisting the poor in surviving the pandemic.
However, he remarked that the rate of Indonesia's economic growth, which plunged to 2.07 percent year-on-year (yoy) in 2020, had recovered gradually, hitting a notable rate of 5.05 percent yoy in 2023.
Kacaribu attributed the recovery to an increase in the rate of household consumption, saying that such consumption has been one of the most significant contributors to the economy.
He then emphasized the importance of the government exerting efforts to maintain the people's purchasing power, as the global economic slowdown and adverse impacts of the heat phenomenon of El Nino are still affecting Indonesia's economy.
The official then expressed hope that the full payments of the THR and 13th salary for state apparatus this year would enable to boost the people's purchasing power and increase the economic growth rate to 5.2 percent yoy.
"We hope that civil servants, soldiers, police officers, and state apparatus pensioners will make the most of the THR and 13th salary that are expected to positively affect the national economy," he concluded.
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Translator: Imamatul S, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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