Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Food Agency (Bapanas) stated that food assistance serves as an economic stimulus to maintain household consumption, strengthen purchasing power, and support national economic growth.”The food assistance program, consisting of free rice and cooking oil distribution, is one of the key economic stimulus programs relied upon by the government,” Head of Bapanas and Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said in a statement on Wednesday.Therefore, he emphasized, Bapanas ensures that the national availability of rice and cooking oil is adequate, with the government rice reserve (CBP) reaching 5.2 million tons.During the first quarter of this year, the total number of beneficiary families (KPM) that received food assistance reached 1.85 million, totaling 37.1 million kilograms of rice and 7.4 million liters of cooking oil. The overall distribution target is 33.2 million families across Indonesia.The current distribution consisted of January and February cycles to 992,800 KPMs, and the March distribution, which successfully reached 864,000 KPMs.Indonesia's annual economic growth in the first quarter of 2026 was the highest of any first quarter since 2021. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded economic growth of 5.61 percent. Such an achievement had never been reached in previous years, according to BPS Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti.”Looking at the first quarters since 2021, none had ever exceeded 5.61 percent,” Widyasanti said.The government is considered capable of maintaining purchasing power, as reflected in the largest contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) coming from household consumption, which contributed 54.36 percent and grew by 5.52 percent.