"“Oh, it's been from the beginning (social assistance). This (social assistance) has been since September,” said Jokowi, quoted from Liputan6.com, Friday, February 2, 2024. According to Jokowi, the distribution of social assistance is now worth Rp600,000 for three months due to the increase in rice prices throughout the country. The government, he said, also wants to strengthen the purchasing power of the less fortunate people."

"\u201cAnd that has already been done, for example, the rice food aid has been provided since September, the BLT is due to the long drought caused by El Nino, so this is also to strengthen the purchasing power of the community, thus additional social assistance is needed,\u201d said Jokowi. He emphasized that additional social assistance in the form of direct cash assistance (BLT) amounting to Rp200,000 per month, distributed from January to March 2024, has been approved by the DPR."

The Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, previously stated that funds amounting to Rp11.25 trillion have been allocated to support the Food Risk Mitigation BLT program. According to Sri Mulyani, the food mitigation BLT is Rp200,000 for the months of January, February, and March, targeting 18.8 million beneficiary families (KPM).

"\u201cIf it's for 3 months, it's Rp11.25 trillion, for 18 million (18, million) KPM,\u201d said Sri Mulyani on Monday, January 29, 2024. However, she does not yet know the mechanism for distributing this BLT, considering the time constraints for disbursing the BLT. \u201cThree months at once, we will see the readiness of the Ministry of Social Affairs,\u201d said Sri Mulyani."