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Wage subsidies doubled, electricity discount canceled in stimulus shake-up
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Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto (right) talks with Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan (second right), Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (second left) and National Economic Council chair Luhut Pandjaitan (left) ahead of the first plenary cabinet meeting of President Prabowo Subianto's administration at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Oct. 23, 2024. (Antara/Hafidz Mubarak A)
I
n last-minute changes to a planned consumer stimulus package for June and July, the government has canceled an electricity discount but doubled wage subsidies.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati revealed in a press conference on Monday that the wage subsidies for low-income earners would double from Rp 150,000 (US$9) per month per individual to Rp 300,000.
Eligible beneficiaries include around 17.3 million workers earning up to Rp 3.5 million a month and some 565,000 “honorary teachers”, a term commonly used for honorarium-based contract teachers.
Sri Mulyani explained that the government would set aside Rp 10.72 trillion from the state coffers to fund the program.
The wage subsidies are a part of a series of measures aimed at boosting to consumer spending.
When it was first announced last month, the packaged was to cover six areas, one being transportation discounts for trains, airplanes and ships, another area included discounts on road tolls for some 110 million eligible drivers.
Two more areas were social aid for 18.3 million beneficiaries and a discount on work accident insurance for employees in labor-intensive industries.
