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3. Government to Extend Social Cash Transfers until 2021 due to Covid-19

Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara said on Monday that the government will extend its social cash transfers (BST) until 2021, providing opportunities to beneficiaries who have yet to receive the funds amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I order [the relevant agencies] to verify again all data so that the beneficiaries will not be the same as there are many people who are in need,” the Cabinet Secretariat’s official website, setkab.go.id, quoted Juliari as saying on November 23.

He said that the extension of the BST program is part of the national economic recovery program to alleviate the burden of 10 million beneficiaries during the Covid-19 pandemic in 34 provinces across the country.

The government has allocated 12 trillion rupiahs ($848 million) for the distribution of the BST program.

Besides, the government will also extend the distribution of staple food programs to 18.8 million beneficiaries, with a total allocation of 45.12 trillion rupiahs ($3.1 billion).

The minister said the beneficiaries who have not received the social assistance funds, especially those who are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, can register themselves to the regional government for data verification.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/11/23/063600026/jaga-pemulihan-ekonomi-pemerintah-bakal-perpanjang-program-bansos-tunai-hingga.