Jakarta – Vice President Ma’ ruf Amin on Thursday emphasized the need to identify a proportional expense for next year’s Hajj expedition to reduce the burden on pilgrims and lessen the government’s subsidy burden.
” Previous Hajj trips have imposed a significant monetary burden on the government, with aids surpassing 50 percent,” he said throughout a see to Bandung, West Java, on Thursday, as broadcast on YouTube.
He discussed that the federal government’s Hajj Fund is no longer appropriate to sustain such a high level of subsidy, necessitating an expense structure where 70 percent is borne by pilgrims and 30 percent by the federal government.
The proportion of federal government subsidies remains open to negotiation with the Home of Representatives (DPR), Amin included.
Previously, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas proposed a 2024 Hajj cost of Rp105 million per person throughout a meeting with the DPR Commission VIII, an increase from Rp90 million in 2023.
” The proposition will act as a basis for discussions to determine the final cost for next year’s Hajj pilgrimage,” he specified.
Hilman Latief, Director General of Hajj and Umrah at the Religious Affairs Ministry, associated the proposed increase in the 2024 Hajj expense to rising exchange rates and additional services.
The ministry will further discuss the proposal with a DPR working committee to settle the cost of the 2024 Hajj trip.
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