TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Finance Ministry said the national economic recovery (PEN) programs succeeded in dropping the open unemployment rate amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In February 2021, the rate was recorded at 6.26 percent or 8.75 million people.

“In August 2020, the open unemployment rate is at 7.07 percent or 9.77 million people, so there was a decrease of 0.81 percent,” said the Finance Ministry’s Director of General Transfer Fund Adriyanto in the ministry’s online discussion in Jakarta today, June 10.

The government’s economic recovery programs, said Adriyanto, created 2.61 million new jobs from September 2020 to February 2021, especially in strategic sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, trade, and accommodation services, as well as food and beverages services.

According to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a significant impact on the open unemployment rate. In February 2020, the national unemployment rate was 4.94 percent and jumped to 7.07 percent in August 2020.

Adriyanto also said the program was able to contain the increase in the poverty rate by maintaining the consumption level of the poorest groups to 10.19 percent in September 2020.

“Without the PEN program, the World Bank predicts that Indonesia's 2020 poverty rate will reach 11.8%. This means the 2020 PEN is estimated to have saved more than 5 million people from poverty,” he added.

The government is determined to improve the effectiveness of the economic recovery program in 2021. As of May 18, the government has spent Rp57 trillion, or 39 percent of the program’s budget.

Read: Indonesia Poverty Level Below World Bank Prediction, Says Sri Mulyani

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