TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Suryamin, chief of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), is pessimistic that the number of poor people in Indonesia can be lowered drastically. "Unless there is special treatment," he said at his office yesterday. This condition makes the government still opts for social aid programs.

The number of poor people living in Indonesia from March 2013 to March 2014 had declined by 0.11 percent. From September 2013 until March 2014, the decline reached 0.21 percent. "It is declining but with a very small margin," said Suryamin.

As of March 2014, the number of poor people reached 28.28 million people, accounting for 11.25 percent of the population.

Enny Sri Hartati, executive director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), said that the decline rate is very small. The majority of villagers making their living in the agriculture and fishery sectors such as farmers, fishermen, and ranchers have not experienced a significant increase in revenue.

Meanwhile, urban people working in the informal sector or having micro jobs have relatively little incentives—without facilities for the government. "It makes the development process seem inequitable," Enny said.

Enny hopes the government will work on improving economic policies that develop the business sector to create more jobs. In addition, it is vital that the government stabilize the prices of staple goods.

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