She made the statement at a press conference on the 2025 Draft State Budget (RAPBN) in Jakarta on Friday.
The government's social protection programs include the Family Hope Program (PKH) and Staple Goods Card, which target 10 million and 18.7 million beneficiary families, respectively.
Furthermore, the government makes budget allocations for the education sector, including for the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) program and the School Operational Assistance (BOS), as well as the health sector, namely for the national insurance contribution assistance (PBI JKN) program.
"These social assistance programs primarily benefit the poor," Indrawati said. "However, the state budget also provides assistance in the form of subsidies."
The subsidies are provided to make the prices of goods, especially fuel, electricity, and cooking gas, more affordable so that the purchasing power of low-income households can be maintained.
The subsidies are provided to make the prices of goods, especially fuel, electricity, and cooking gas, more affordable so that the community's purchasing power can be maintained.
"Subsidies protect the purchasing power of the community, reaching all deciles. It means all people, whether poor, middle-class, and rich, enjoy the subsidies," she said.
The government also provides value-added tax exemptions on several things, such as staple goods, education, health, and transportation.
These incentives are enjoyed by the middle- and upper-class groups, she said.
In the period from 2015 to 2023, the government provided Rp3,127.6 trillion (around US$199.19 billion) for social protection.
According to Indrawati, the funds helped bring down the poverty rate from 11.25 percent in 2014 to 9.03 percent in March 2024, the Gini ratio from 0.406 to 0.379, and the unemployment rate from 5.9 percent to 4.82 percent.
In the 2025 RAPBN, the social protection budget is set at Rp504.7 trillion (around US$32.1 billion).
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Translator: Imamatul Silfia, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
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