Farmers and Farm Laborers Dominated Recipients of Village BLT in 2021

The Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) allocated a budget of Rp 28.8 trillion for direct cash assistance (BLT) to villages in 2021. This assistance was provided at Rp 300,000 per month from January to December 2021.

The majority of BLT village recipients were farmers and farm laborers, totaling 9.2 million families. This represents 54.17% of the total number of beneficiary families (KPM) receiving BLT village assistance.

A total of 872,743 families were involved in trading and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Furthermore, 585,524 families of fishermen and fishing laborers will receive BLT village assistance.

In addition, 418,231 factory worker families will also receive BLT village assistance. A total of 36,403 teacher families will also receive this assistance. The remaining 5,863,426 families come from other professions.

As of June 2021, the absorption of the BLT village budget reached only Rp 6.11 trillion. This amount is only 21.1% of the allocated BLT village budget.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani stated that her ministry, along with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Villages, continues to push for the disbursement of this assistance. She considers the BLT village program an effective social protection instrument for maintaining the purchasing power of communities affected by the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.