President Joko Widodo is optimistic that the government's social assistance programs would increase the public’s purchasing power, particularly to buy food.

"The government has launched cash social assistance for nine million families, direct cash assistance from the village fund for 11 million families, staple food card, and Family Hope Program (PKH). We are buoyant that those programs would boost the people's purchasing power," Widodo stated at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Quoting a report from the Central Statistics Agency, the head of state pointed to deflation of 0.13 percent in the staple food group in April 2020, an indication of which was owing to a decline in food demand.

The president believes that such conditions are indicative of the decreased purchasing power of the people for food.

The president also highlighted the significance of the availability and stability of prices of staple foods and reminded government officials to take precautionary measures in the wake of the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO’s) warning of the risk of a food crisis owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia economist Muhammad Ishak Razak urged the government to increase the social assistance budget and number of beneficiaries to maintain the welfare of people living in poverty.

"CORE Indonesia emphasizes the importance of policies of the central and regional governments to maintain the level of welfare of the people, especially those living around the poverty line," he noted in an official statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The effort was intended to serve as a precautionary measure against a potential surge in poverty estimated to be higher than the amount of social assistance prepared by the government during this time.

CORE Indonesia has forecast that the number of poor people in Indonesia would increase in the second quarter of 2020 by 5.1 million to reach 12.3 million in a severe scenario; 8.25 million, in a more severe scenario; and 12.2 million, in a very severe scenario.

The government has, so far, offered social assistance in varied forms, specifically through the Family Hope Program (PKH), with a budget allocation of Rp37.4 trillion, or Rp3.7 million annually for 10 million beneficiary families.

The staple food card, targeted for 20 million families, with a budget of Rp43.6 trillion, comprises Rp200 thousand monthly for nine months, including Rp600 thousand for 1,776 million families in Greater Jakarta (Jakarta Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) for three months.

Furthermore, Rp600 thousand in cash will be transferred to 5.6 million participants of the pre-employment card program for four months.

Razak remarked that the government should also continue to update the data of poor and vulnerable poor people, who deserve social assistance.

The social assistance database used by the regional government, in particular, the Integrated Social Welfare Data (DTKS), did not cover the community whose economic conditions had only deteriorated after the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced. (ANTARA)