Observer: Adjustment of Fuel Prices and Reallocation of State Budget for More Productive Goals
Observers agree that the fuel price adjustment policy that has been officially implemented by the government as well as efforts to reallocate the APBN should have been carried out. This is for purposes that are far more productive than having to continue to be depressed and endanger the national economy.
So far, the government has continued to disburse subsidies for fossil-based energy, namely fuel, even to the point of burdening the state budget to reach Rp 502 trillion. In fact, it turns out that in practice in the field, this fuel subsidy actually only creates injustice because 70% is enjoyed by the wealthy.
Therefore, the Head of BRIN, Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro, stated that in fact the subsidy funds that had been disbursed by the government had to be diverted immediately.
According to him, the transfer of subsidy funds will be very much more beneficial if it is started to be used for the use of clean and renewable energy.
“Fossil-based energy subsidies must be reduced and directed to clean and renewable energy. We need support from the government in the form of incentives to attract the private sector to invest in clean energy,” he said on Friday (23/9) in an online discussion.
Furthermore, regarding the provision of fuel subsidies, which did not hit the target at all before, Prof. Bambang also added that the use of the current state budget could be diverted to something much more productive.
“It is time for Indonesia to look at a better way of producing a productive APBN. Assistance must be right on target, such as to the education, health, and other sectors,” he added.
Meanwhile, INDEF lecturer and researcher, Berly Martawardaya, believes that the fuel subsidy has so far deviated from the distribution function of the APBN itself.
“The state budget from the distribution function is to protect the weak,” he said.
For this reason, in order to keep the distribution function running properly, in the provision of BLT BBM as recently being intensified by the government, Berly revealed that the accuracy must continue to be improved.
“The distribution function of the APBN, BLT/Bansos must improve accuracy,” he concluded.
Then, regarding the distribution of BLT BBM, Politician Fahri Hamzah explained that the government could use a single identity number scheme to really guarantee the beneficiaries of the social cushion.
“Single Identity Number should be considered to be applied in Indonesia, so that people can receive benefits from the state appropriately, especially in terms of welfare,” he explained.
In line with Fahri Hamzah, Observer of Strategic and Global Issues, Prof. Imron Cotan said that the single identity number scheme can indeed be one solution regarding the distribution of social support.
“Social assistance must be ensured on target. One of them can use a Single Identity Number. Once there is a deviation, it will be detected immediately. In this way, the community can receive the right benefits,” he explained.
In fact, according to him, the policy of adjusting the fuel price accompanied by the distribution of social support by the government is an effort from the government so that the program is truly targeted for people in need.
“The government makes a policy of adjusting the fuel price with social assistance so that it is channeled to Beneficiary Families (KPM) more on target,” said Prof Imron Cotan.
On the other hand, the Executive Director of SMRC, Sirojudin Abbas stated that in all the problems related to fuel, the public really believed that President Jokowi was able to overcome them.
“People have high confidence that the president can solve the fuel problem. Awareness of the global crisis is quite good at the community level. However, the community has a fairly high trust in the government’s ability,” he said.
