TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Presidential palace spokesman said in three years the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has succeeded in slashing inflation from 8.36 percent in 2014 to 3.61 percent year-on-year in 2017.

"The inflation dropped sharply in three years that the prices remained within the purchasing power of the people," Yanuar Nugroho, Deputy II of the Head of the Presidential Staff said at a national discussion on Tuesday.

The country`s economic growth also was quite stable at 5.1 percent in the first quarter of 2017, higher than Thailand`s 3.7 percent, South Korea`s 2.7 percent and Russia`s 2.5 percent, Januar said.

The country`s economic growth was not very high but it was the forth among the G-20 countries, he said at the discussion on National Road Show of Achievement in Three Years of Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla Government held at the state University of Andalas in cooperation with the Presidential Staff Office.

He also said the Indonesian entrepreneurship ratio rose from 1.65 percent in 2014 to 3.01 percent in 2017, and economic gap has also narrowed with the application of the equitable development concept.

"In 2014 , the gap was 0.414 and in 2017 it was reduced to only 0.393," he pointed out.

He said in three years there were four development focuses carried out by the government - economic development, eradication of poverty and social aid, narrowing regional gap and political and security stability and culture.

In a bid to reduce the lopsidedness , the priority has been given to rural development, and subsidy is provided only for those entitled to it, he said.

He cited under the Jokowi government, subsidy is given directly to farmers not to fertilizer factories as rich farmers would have more benefit if the subsidy is given to fertilizer factories.

An example of equitable development is the construction of the Trans Papua highway , he said.

He denied suggestion that poverty is worse in the country, saying the number of people living below the poverty line dropped from 10.96 percent in 2014 to 10.64 percent in March 2017.

ANTARA