TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution sees that the decline in poverty by 0.27 percent of total Indonesian people has been driven by stable food prices.

“Food prices make up most of poor people’s consumption [expenditure],” Darmin said in Jakarta, Monday, July 18, 2016.

According to him, decline in poverty rate has shown that commodity prices have stabilized, particularly those consumed the most by the poor.

Price stability has driven the increase in people’s consumption expenditure, lifting them out of poverty, he said.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows that Indonesia’s poverty line has risen by 2.78 to Rp354,386 per person per month, from Rp344,809 per person per month in September 2015.

“Decline in poverty rate can’t directly be correlated with the economic growth achieved in the first quarter of 2016. The decline indicates the number of people living below poverty line, whereas economic growth indicates the growth of economic activities and services,” he explained.

The BPS reported Monday that the number of poor people in Indonesia has declined by 0.26 percent to 28.01 million people, or 10.86 percent, in March 2016.

According to the BPS data, decline in poverty has been partly driven by falling average staple food prices. For example, broiler chicken price had dropped by 4.08 percent from Rp37,742 to Rp36,203.

ANTARA