Indonesian authorities said they would distribute a total of 8.8 trillion rupiah ($613 million) in cash to low-income workers, to help cushion the impact of rising food and energy prices.
Workers with monthly incomes of less than 3.5 million rupiah will receive 1 million rupiah under the scheme, chief economics minister Airlangga Hartarto said after a meeting with president Joko Widodo.
The surge in global commodity prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is providing more revenue in resource-rich Indonesia, but the government needed to mitigate the impact of higher food and energy prices at home, Airlangga said.
“The directive from the president is for the social protection to be reinforced,” he said in a video statement.
The cash will be distributed to 8.8 million workers, while the government is also considering giving money to 12 million “micro businesses”, Airlangga said.
Indonesia’s inflation rate in March hit its highest in two years due to rising food prices and economists warned prices could creep up further as the government raised value-added tax and the state-owned energy firm raised the price of 92-octane petrol.
Separately, senior minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that the government may gradually adjust prices of petrol and subsidised liquefied petroleum gas, local media reported.
Last week, the president said the government would also distribute cash to 20.5 million low-income households and 2.5 million food stall operators to help them cope with high cooking oil prices.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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