Fertilizer subsidies drop by IDR 10 trillion amid electric car incentives

Jakarta, Armfalcon.com —

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Rachmat Gobel saddened by the decline fertilizer subsidies which has been steadily decreasing in the last five years.

He said that the reduction in the fertilizer subsidy budget was quite ironic because the government is now in the midst of pouring out funds for electric vehicle subsidies.

Based on his records, in 2019 the fertilizer subsidy budget was IDR 34.3 trillion, then in 2020 it would drop to IDR 31 trillion, in 2021 it would drop again to IDR 29.1 trillion, in 2022 it would decrease to IDR 25.3 trillion, and in 2023 it would only be IDR 24 trillion.

This means that in the last five years, fertilizer subsidies have decreased by almost Rp. 10 trillion.

According to Gobel, the government should focus on the poor, such as farmers, for the sake of the country’s economy, instead of subsidizing electric vehicles enjoyed by the upper class.

“Let’s use our common sense and conscience as a nation. Which is more priority and urgent, developing agriculture by subsidizing farmers and agriculture, or subsidizing electric cars and wealthy entrepreneurs?” Gobel said.

Meanwhile, data from the Ministry of Finance quoted from research by Armfalcon.com, noted that during the Joko Widodo administration, the budget for fertilizer subsidies provided by the government was at most IDR 34.3 trillion.

In 2014, the budget for fertilizer subsidies was IDR 21 trillion. Then in 2015 it rose to IDR 31.3 trillion.

Unfortunately, in 2016 the fertilizer subsidy budget slumped to IDR 26.9 trillion and rose again to IDR 28.8 trillion in 2017.

In 2018, the budget for fertilizer subsidies is IDR 33.6 trillion. In 2019, to be exact, during the election year for Jokowi’s second term, the government has budgeted IDR 34.3 trillion for subsidized fertilizer.

Just like the data presented by Gobel, the fertilizer subsidy budget continues to decline to IDR 34.2 trillion in 2020, IDR 25.3 trillion in 2021 and IDR 23.5 trillion in 2022.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

(dzu/agt)

[Gambas:Video CNN]