JAKARTA. The realisation of electricity subsidies and stimulus to PT PLN (Persero) has reached IDR 26.5 trillion this year.
In a webinar on Thursday (22/7), the Director of Electricity Business Development of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Ida Nuryatin Finahari, specified the fund allocation. Electricity subsidies until May 2021 take up IDR 19.76 trillion, while the electricity stimulus until H1 2021 uses IDR 6.74 trillion.
According to Finahari, the budget for electricity subsidies stated in State Budget 2021 amounts to IDR 53.59 trillion, which is disbursed to 38.33 million users. However, that number excludes the electricity stimulus given to the public and business owners affected by the pandemic. Thus, the government further estimates the fund for the said electricity stimulus throughout 2021 to reach IDR 11.72 trillion.
Finahari hopes that the stimulus and the Community Activities Restriction (PPKM) would not be needed longer, even go beyond 2021. “The stimulus extension, as we all know, is another strain for the State Budget itself,” she adds.
The government decides to extend the electricity stimulus programmes until December 2021. They include a discount on electricity bills, exemption of electricity load costs by 50%, and removal of minimum account requirement by 50%. (AM/ZH)