Sri Mulyani Comments on Indonesia`s All Time Low Poverty Rate

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati responded to the recent findings of the Central Statistics agency (BPS) that saw Indonesia’s poverty rate reduced under 10 percent to 9.82 percent as of March 2018.

“The first time in the history of Indonesia where the poverty level has fallen under 10 percent,” said Sri Mulyani in Jakarta on Monday, July 16.

The finance minister of two different administrations then compared the country’s current poverty level to the time Indonesia’s poverty rate was at 11 percent under President Soeharto during the New Order.

“It closed in to 10 percent and it was into the fifth Repelita (a five-year development program introduced by the New Order regime). But then the [1998] economic crisis hit and caused the poverty level to skyrocket to 24 percent,” said Sri Mulyani.

Meanwhile as Finance Minister under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Sri Mulyani said that the poverty level reached 11 percent too but was not able to be further reduced since Indonesia lacked commodities.

Previously reported, Head of BPS Suhariyanto announced the initial fall of the poverty rate. He explained that citizens stricken by poverty in 2017 was 16.58 million people and was reduced to 25.95 million people as of March 2018.

“We do not want to stop there, we will attempt to reduce it even further,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani maintained.

CHITRA PARAMAESTI