Jakarta – The government is once again rolling out the Wage Subsidy Assistance (BSU) program targeting millions of low-income workers, as part of the national economic stimulus package initiated by President Prabowo Subianto. This program aims to support those earning less than Rp3.5 million per month.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati announced the policy during a press conference following a limited cabinet meeting with the President at the State Palace on Monday (June 2). She emphasized that the aid is intended to strengthen people’s purchasing power amid the looming threat of global economic slowdown.
“The wage subsidy assistance will be given to 17.3 million workers earning less than Rp3.5 million or below the regional minimum wage,” said Sri Mulyani.
To qualify, recipients must be registered with the Social Security Administration for Employment (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan). The program’s implementation will be handled by the Ministry of Manpower.
“The registered workers under BPJS Ketenagakerjaan will receive a wage subsidy of Rp300,000 per month for June and July, totaling Rp600,000. We aim to disburse the payments starting this June,” the Finance Minister explained.
The program is a swift government response to the economic challenges expected to hit the working class hardest.
Notably, the program also covers contract teachers (honorary teachers), with a total of 565,000 expected to receive direct cash assistance.
“These honorary teachers will also get Rp300,000 per month for two months, which amounts to Rp600,000,” Sri Mulyani added.
She also clarified that the decision to use BSU instead of previously planned electricity discounts was based on data readiness and faster implementation.
“We had discussions among ministers, and the electricity discount proposal turned out to require a more complex budgeting process. Since our target is to provide support in June and July, we decided it could not be executed in time,” she said.
Consequently, the government chose to redirect the budget to the wage subsidy program, which is already backed by validated data.
“Similar to the National Socio-Economic Registry (DTSEN), we found that BPJS Ketenagakerjaan has clean data on workers earning below Rp3.5 million. Therefore, we decided that the most effective and immediate measure is to implement the wage subsidy program,” Sri Mulyani affirmed.
The wage subsidy initiative is part of the Rp24.44 trillion economic stimulus package signed by the government under the direct directive of President Prabowo.
This policy reflects a concrete effort by the government to safeguard the purchasing power of the lower-middle-income population amid global economic headwinds.
