President Prabowo Subianto held a limited meeting with several ministers at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, discussing government subsidies.
Results of the meeting were for internal purposes and therefore cannot be disclosed to the public.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, who attended the meeting, said that the discussion was internal. “It’s an internal meeting, it’s still an internal discussion,” he told reporters.
Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who attended the meeting, was reluctant to reveal details of the agenda.
However, journalists managed to glean a small bit of information on the meeting, which apparently discussed measures to consolidate the Integrated Social Welfare Data as part of the attempts to set subsidies for the poor to be right on target.
Head of the Agency for the Acceleration of Poverty Alleviation, Budiman Sudjatmiko, said that the final decision regarding the subsidy issue would be announced by President Prabowo or the relevant minister.
He cited that the discussion emphasized the importance of the government’s consolidation of the Integrated Social Welfare Data.
Head of the Presidential Communication Office, Hasan Nasbi, said that President Prabowo’s direction was to clarify subsidies so that they are right on target.
“Earlier we discussed something specific about the President’s direction so that it can be reviewed. In regards with subsidies, it was agreed that they be right on target, right to the recipient and right to the allocation,” he said.
However, Hasan did not specify the types of subsidydiscussed in the meeting. He only mentioned that the government is trying to prepare more accurate data on beneficiaries, with the Statistics Indonesia (BPS) being tasked to prepare the data.
“All ministries are involved and the leading sector is BPS,” Hasan concluded.
